Radiohead (Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, 30 June 2006)

I haven't been to the Greek Theatre in L.A. since 2003. That's when I saw Belle & Sebastian and I actually got to sing on stage. Tonight was a little different. I don't have a pit ticket this time. Instead, I was relegated to the far stage left side of the venue, where I can only see Thom, Ed and, on occassion, Jonny and Colin. Forget about Phil. With that in mind, my expectations for this show was low. I mean, how can Radiohead top Berkeley night two?

Well, they didn't. But it was still a good Radiohead show.

Radiohead started off with a bang with "Airbag." The crowd really received the band well in the beginning, and continued to do so throughout their 23 song set. "National Anthem," followed by my favourite "There There" came on next. I love "There There" soooo much. Jonny and Ed doing the drums was just as amazing as always.

"15 Step," and then another magical rendition of "Exit Music (For a Film)" followed. In the beginning part of the song, Thom told someone in the crowd to "shut up" and something like "you're not the one up here." I don't know what the idiot crowd person said, but I got a laugh at Thom's reaction. It didn't ruin the song one bit.

Skipping a few songs, "Videotape" followed. This is, hands down, my favourite new Radiohead song. I guess the other favourites include "All I Need" and "Down is the New Up" which they also played. The beginning parts of each of these songs is what captures me. Like what Dr. Dre said, "the first 15 seconds of the song are critical to catching people's attention." Indeed, Dr. Dre. Indeed.

There wasn't really any surprises in their set list unlike the Berkeley shows. I guess them ending with "Bones" was a surprise. It was a rather awkward ending, but I like hearing songs off The Bends.

I think it was somewhere shortly before or after this song that I saw Marilyn Manson walk into the pit area from my vantage point above. Weird.

"Paranoid Android" was the last song they played in the second encore. "True Love Waits" followed with the usual closing song "Everything in Its Right Place" followed. I didn't want them to play "House of Cards," but they did much to my dismay.

Overall, it wasn't a bad Radiohead show. But I wanted more surprises like the Saturday Berkeley show. But still, well worth the trip down south to see these guys.


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