While Radiohead is about to ignite Bercy two consecutive nights, I was able to attend one of their concerts in London given Monday and Tuesday at the O2 Arena. The band is currently pursuing his tour started in the U.S. earlier this year and will also be passing by Strasbourg on 16 October.
Radiohead created the event by organizing a concert without tickets to prevent resale on the black market. Against presentation of identity papers we were given a wristband giving access to the venue. This should be an idea to develop in the future. Although some have complained about not being able to resell their tickets because they could not go the concert, this solution has the effect of cutting short any subsequent resale. Thus it allows fans can book their tickets in better conditions.
Influenced by Radiohead, Carbiou opened for 30 minutes of psychedelic and electronic music. They spent most of their 30 minutes wrapped in semi-darkness - as is often the case during the concerts of electronic music, the lights were directed towards the public rather than directly to the musicians. The highlight was undoubtedly Odessa, song known and appreciated by all.
Radiohead concert began with the mesmerizing Lotus Flower that appears on The King Of Limbs. From the beginning, Thom Yorke captivated the audience with his aura and especially his recognizable dance. Known for the quality of its live performances, the band has not faltered to its reputation. They delivered a show of an exceptional quality for more than 2 hours.
Radiohead is one of the few bands to rethink their setlist for each concert, which is very appreciable. Thus the two concerts in London were quite different, this way you can easily want to attend both of them! Monday's event was the presence of Karma Police while Tuesday it was Street Spirit. It seems that Thom Yorke was talkative the day before, it was far from being the case on Oct 9th. He merely thanked timidly the crowd repeatedly.
The band is not used to play all its biggest hits on stage, they rather prefer performing other songs, often less known to the general public. One may regret the absence of a Creep or a No Surprises but this allows songs that are less exposed to be put in the spotlight.
They played a lot of titles from The King of Limbs and In Rainbows but also from Hail To The Thief and even Kid A. From the intimate and sublime Videotape to more rhythmic songs like There There and Bodysnatchers, almost all of the songs have received a triumphant welcome! Personally, I loved the setlist because it included many of my favorite songs like I Might Be Wrong and Reckoner to name just two.
The mise en scene was well presented, a real success! In the background there were large panels of LEDs that were lit during the songs and in the air, square screens and bowed and moved constantly, broadcasting images of the band. The rendering was beautiful !
Receptive, the crowd did not hesitate to accompany Thom Yorke singing and adopting its lopsidedness. The atmosphere was good and the band seemed to enjoy it. The bleachers spent the concert standing and I was pleasantly surprised to see the crowd creating some movements during songs like Paranoid Android. Single from the album OK Computer, I must say that this song is symbolic of Radiohead.
The band has extended the pleasure by coming back on stage three times receiving each time more applause. All good things have (unfortunately) to come to an end, they ended the concert by Idioteque.
It was my very first Radiohead concert, I've been transported. I do not regret having made the trip to London to attend to such a show. I look forward to their Parisian concert tomorrow to immerse myself in their world once again! You can watch some videos on my Youtube channel and find the setlist below:
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