Here's the Globe's take on the Radiohead show last night:
Tuned to a higher frequency, Radiohead tour takes off
MANSFIELD -- To borrow a British phrase, this was a smashing debut. Yes, Radiohead launched its American tour in spectacular fashion last night, treating a sold-out crowd to a simmering mix of high-tech electro-funk and apocalyptic ballads, combined with a Pink Floyd-level light show. Radiohead may be a band that people either love or hate, but there was no denying the mind-altering tone of this all-out, all-absorbing show. The British group dazzled right away with an industrial stage set boasting a back wall of lights that looked like a circuit board from Mars, over which were silver, dome-like beams resembling the frame of a spaceship.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
 |
And space was the place (to quote Sun Ra) last night, as singer Thom Yorke spun his wrenching tales of futuristic angst and alienation, while his mates added a stunning coat of rave-style electronics and arena-rock guitar power.
Radiohead opened with the first two songs of its new album, "Hail to the Thief," with Yorke singing about "the jaws of hell" on "Sit Down. Stand Up.," as vertical video screens on both sides of the stage showed live footage with waves of static running through it. In short, forget about any gentle moments of ease. A Radiohead show is a constant, disorienting assault on the senses. The subsequent "Paranoid Android" reached heavy, gnashing peaks with Yorke wailing about "all the unborn chicken voices in my head." His is a one-man therapy session, which continued with "Kid A," the robotic "Backdrifts," the chiming "Morning Bell," and the intense, strobe-lit "My Iron Lung."
The interstellar journey was soon furthered by the schizoid "Where I End and You Begin," "Sail to the Moon," the computer-sampled "The Gloaming," and "Climbing Up the Walls," with guitarist Ed O'Brien adding splintering feedback and Yorke singing, "Open up your skull, I'll be there."
Obviously, this was not a sing-along concert. There were no U2 or Springsteen-type anthems. But it was still a bewitching night that even saw the addition of early hit "Creep," which the band hasn't played in a long while. It found Yorke changing the words from "I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul," to "I want a perfect body so I can look good next to you." The crowd laughed at this rare moment of non-elliptical humor.
The show rocked home with "National Anthem" (with O'Brien working his tremolo bar) and recent hit "There There," with O'Brien and fellow guitarist Jonny Greenwood switching to stand-up drums, while Yorke visited the Twilight Zone again with the line, "We are accidents waiting to happen." It was a long, bracing journey, but Radiohead never let up the whole way.
The opening Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks succeeded in a much more accessible, alt-rock way. Malkmus's songs were filled with intriguing subtleties, as on the colorful "Vanessa From Queens."
Radiohead
AT: the Tweeter Center, last night
