Radiohead live in West Palm Beach, Florida – May 5, 2008

Photo by Dusty California

Photo by Margarita Gonzalez

This is the third time that I saw Radiohead play live. First in 1995 when they opened for REM in support of “The Bends.” REM lead singer Micheal Stipe boldy praised the band saying “They’re so good, they scare me.” He commented on Radiohead for a total of three times during their performance that night. But let’s get one thing clear – I was there to see Radiohead. It is still one of the most memorable shows I’ve seen.

I also saw Radiohead in 2003. The funny thing is that I don’t remember much of the show. I remember Thom Yorke putting in a good performance but that’s about it. It was a good friend of mine that reminded me that I even attended the show in the first place!

Fast forward to last week. Radiohead was opening their North American tour in West Palm Beach, Florida. West Palm Beach Florida? What an interesting choice since most bands skip South Florida altogether because of the location. Once a band plays Tampa, it’s straight down to Miami for a quick set up and tear down and another 7 hours before the equipment gets out of the state. Yorke commented during the show that the band spent the previous three days in Miami preparing for the show. Perhaps it was the sunshine that attracted the band.

Yorke addressed the audience like a nervous school child making an appearance at his first recital. He sauntered up to the microphone and said “Hello” with the usual normal tick. The band chose ‘All I need’ to start things off – immediately followed by ‘Bodysnatchers and ‘There there.’ I was really looking forward to hearing ‘Weird Fishes’ which was eventually played the 10th song in. This is when the concert started for me. Something rather strange happened though. Close to the ending, the band stopped playing. They had botched the ending and Yorke quickly huddled up with his band mates around their drummer, Phil Selway. After some chatter they quickly returned to where they left off. Selway counted them off and they played the ending correct.

I really don’t think too many people really noticed the screw up. However, Thom – in his pursuit of perfection – played it again the way it was written. [see videos here] Afterward he exclaimed to the audience that they really should have practiced that one or something to that tune.

All and all I would say it was a great show. The big missing for me was the more musically inspired numbers. I would have liked to have heard more of the classic Radiohead before they discovered synths. Not that the later stuff isn’t great, it’s just that I wanted to hear the guitars roar. A little less prefab action and a bit more guitar driven music.