Radiohead “Not Just a Dream” at Lollapalooza 2008
“Why is everyone so quiet?” questioned Thom Yorke in the latter half of Radiohead’s headlining Lollapalooza gig on Friday night in Chicago. The answer, of course, isn’t that everyone was disinterested, but rather that they were giving their undivided attention to a band that hasn’t graced a major concert stage in Chicago since 2001 – which was, coincidentally, in Grant Park.
Radiohead were probably the only band that could have asked the question – every other show seemed littered with distracted or drunk – or both – concertgoers. Sometimes conversation grew louder than the music (partly due to some faulty sound systems), but it didn’t seem to affect Radiohead.
With Yorke’s angelic falsetto and seizure-like dance moves, and with Johnny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien switching back and forth between guitar, xylophone, piano, synthesizer, drums, and an assortment of other percussion, the crowd was never in for a dull moment.
Hot off the hype of their critically-acclaimed album In Rainbows, Radiohead were the only uncontested act for the entire festival, leaving Rage Against The Machine and Wilco to compete for the bigger crowd on Saturday, as well as Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails on Sunday. And, as expected, Radiohead showed why they were deserving of such a slot.
Viewers rushed to see the show, most of them abandoning other gigs scheduled beforehand (The Raconteurs, Stephen Malkmus, CSS, and The Cool Kids). Smart fans – or extremely dedicated ones – camped out at the main stage all day, ensuring their spot to see the band from a decent distance.
After taking the stage, Radiohead plugged away through their set, which included all of In Rainbows as well as selections from their extensive catalog. And the eclectic appeal of Radiohead was immediately apparent. With Yorke’s angelic falsetto and seizure-like dance moves, and with Johnny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien switching back and forth between guitar, xylophone, piano, synthesizer, drums, and an assortment of other percussion, the crowd was never in for a dull moment.
The only real drawback was the expansiveness of the crowd, which prohibited many viewers to seeing the stage. Radiohead’s video setup differed from everyone else’s; each monitor had six different sections, showing the band from strategically-placed, stationary cameras. Of course, the band never stood in the same place for an entire song, and many of the shots showed nothing but a vacant microphone or unattended foot pedals. The setup would’ve been captivating for a smaller venue, but not for something of this capacity.
But even so, Radiohead’s performance went on, churning out flawless renditions of their work. The climax, though, was the beautifully rendered “Fake Plastic Trees,” during which fireworks began to explode in the background – the finale and the cathartic build-up of the song basically going hand-in-hand, garnering the crowd to cheer and reach the loudest it’d been all night.
“It’s dark out there,” Yorke said. “This could all just be a dream.” The comment was appropriate, considering most of the audience felt similarly. After all, it’s not every day that one of the most influential bands in the world crosses the ocean to play a show of this magnitude. As the attentive audience broke into a crescendo of cheers and applause, Yorke had to admit, “Okay, it’s not.”
– Michael Danaher
Setlist:
15 Step
Airbag
There There
All I Need
Nude
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
The Gloaming
The National Anthem
Faust Arp
No Surprises
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Reckoner
Lucky
The Bends
Everything In Its Right Place
Fake Plastic Trees
Bodysnatchers
***
Videotape
Paranoid Android
Dollars And Cents
House Of Cards
Optimistic
***
2+2=5
Idioteque
-Photos by Michelle Nolan