photos by Dana (Distortion) Yavin, videos by Andrew Sullivan

If you were there, how long did you wait to get inside to see Radiohead play their first of two shows at Roseland Ballroom in NYC last night? I arrived at 8:00 and made it in around 9:00. The line for will call check in (all tickets were will call) wrapped around the entire square block. The end of the line was all the way back at the venue, and had apparently been that way since doors opened. If you didn't have a ticket in advance, did you manage to get in? Lots of people were walking up and down the line with signs explaining why they deserved to get your extra if you had one.

Four Tet was on when I finally got through the doors, but without a good spot, and with all the loud crowd noise, it was hard to focus on the opener. Roseland was packed. Radiohead, complete with 2nd bald drummer, took the stage a bit after 10 and played till after midnight. The concert itself was as special as (any Radiohead fan) expected, but my highlight was definitely the second of two encores which did not seem planned. Nobody in the giant venue (relatively speaking) was ready for the band to leave after they finished with "Morning Mr. Magpie" from the new "King of Limbs" album. The club toyed with turning the house lights back on, house music came on, and the crew even seemed to be breaking down. It could have been an act to make an encore seem real for once. Regardless, it worked and the boys returned to the stage, now all dressed down and in black, to the loudest cheers yet. And this time they closed the night off right, with the one-two punch that was "Street Spirit" and "Nude."

Earlier in the set they played a bit of "The One I Love" which was a nice little tribute to the recently-departed R.E.M. The full setlist is below.

Though I can hardly understand Thom when he speaks, he seemed in a good mood. He asked if we saw the movie "Inside Job" and then I think he said something about nothing being different. He mentioned it was nice to not be sitting around a TV studio, a reference to the fact that their NYC vacation so far has included appearances on both SNL and the Colbert Report. The merch included special t-shirts made just for the shows (pics below).

Radiohead do it again at Roseland tonight (9/29). More pictures, some great videos, and the setlist from last night, below...

Continue reading "Radiohead @ Roseland Ballroom (night 1 pics, video, setlist)"

photos by Zach Dilgard

After the set we [Grizzly Bear] decided to unwind and watched both CSS and Radiohead's set. Tomorrow we meet Radiohead for the first time and to say we are beyond excited is an understatement. It was surreal watching them with Kele from Bloc Party and the Yeasayer guys all just marvelling at how insanely great Radiohead are, and how universally loved. Literally what I would guess was 70 thousand people singing along to "All I need" is a pretty spectacular sight. I can't even believe we get to share the stage with them the next few weeks. [Ed Droste]

Continue reading "Radiohead @ Lollapalooza 2008, Chicago, IL - pics"

In Rainbows - homemade artwork

What’s motivating the band to distribute the album this way?

Just getting it out quickly. It was kind of an experiment as well; we were just doing it for ourselves and that was all. People are making a big thing about it being against the industry or trying to change things for people but it’s really not what motivated us to do it. It’s more about feeling like it was right for us and feeling bored of what we were doing before. [Jonny Greenwood talked to Gothamist]