Night Life
March 16th, 2006 | Posted by Shannon
I dreamed about music all night. In the middle of the night, Thom Yorke talked to me for a long time. I woke up right after, thinking I needed to turn on the light and write down everything he said to me. But I didn’t and then it was all gone. I do remember he wanted to talk, and he said some really cool stuff. He did not shift in his seat and look away like in the Rosanna Arquette documentary “All We Are Saying”. She couldn’t hide her awe and it seemed to make him uncomfortable. In my dream, I was not acting like an idiot, which is what I probably would do in real life – I would be just like Rosanna. In my dream it was all cool. (“All We Are Saying” is a really good documentary, by the way. Check it out.)
I love Radiohead. Passionately. In the documentary Thom says everyone thinks they are weird. I don’t think they are weird, I think they are geniuses who make music to live in.
Radiohead is touring this summer. I am already obsessing about where my seats will be. I’ve just found what I wrote about the last show I saw, in September 2003…
“I was disappointed with Friday nights show at the Hollywood Bowl – our seats were way too far away to see anything, and while there were a couple of great moments (Creep, Fake Plastic Trees) I left feeling there was no way anything could ever compare with the show I saw in Verona in May of 2001.
Was I ever wrong. Sunday at Coors was so mind blowing… we got there and our seats were five rows back from the pit, so we were only about 30 feet from the stage. This was the closest I have ever been and it was great to see Ed making faces and playing with the crowd, to see Jonny move around playing what seemed like a gazillion instruments, to see Colin at all (he is always hiding in the back.) Sometimes the five of them seemed so tuned to each other… it was a very, very special night.
Part of the reason I came away from the Hollywood Bowl disappointed was that many of my favorites weren’t played, but at Coors it was like my dream set list. After 2 +2 = 5, Sit Down Stand Up, and Where I End and You Begin, they played Lucky which I desperately wanted to hear. It was slow, lush. Fantastic. Then into an immense Myxomatosis, it was LOUD and intense. Cool green lighting on this one. I’ll fast forward – Kid A, Sail to the Moon, Talk Show Host, Paranoid Android… then, finally, JUST. I thought I would die. After three shows without hearing it I was always hoping. But nothing could have prepared me for this moment. This is why bands with three guitars rule. It just about ripped my head off, I almost passed out. The pit is going crazy at this point. Then a sweet and beautiful No Surprises, and a slammin’ Go to Sleep where I was really, really happy I could see Jonny with his crazy guitar solo at the end (my favorite moment of HTTT I think.) Scatterbrain and You and Whose Army (got to see Thom’s mugging at the Hollywood show too, because of the screens – pretty funny.) Idioteque got everyone going again. The Gloaming next, and then There There (mi dio – the DRUMMING) and then the first set was done. The first encore opened with Pyramid Song, and I love this song so much I want it played at my funeral. This is Thom at his finest, he just reaches in and grabs your heart and clutches it. National Anthem and Punchdrunk at a Wedding next, then How to Disappear Completely (another breathtaking moment). For the final encore, Karma Police and I was thinking, could they have been better? No. The only thing I wish is that they wouldn’t always end with Everything in it’s Right Place, because then you know it is going to end.
All of them were clapping for us, too. They loved us. It was a great night.”
I can’t wait. I really and truly can’t wait. I am just scared now that they will come when I am in Spain.
Elbow is coming to Hollywood, three days after I get back from Venice. I don’t have any control over this stuff – the ticket is bought and the hotel room booked. That is going to be a great show.
