It’s hard to believe that before Radiohead’s sold out run at Madison Square Garden this past Tuesday and Wednesday, that they haven’t played a large-scale headlining show in New York since their run at MSG in 2003. Sure there was All Points West (RIP), the very intimate pair of shows at Roseland (also RIP) in 2012, and a few arena shows in New Jersey, but nothing at the worlds most famous arena, hollowed ground where they could arguably headline and sell out as many shows as they would allow. But this just made their past two-night run that much more special, yielding some truly spellbinding results over the course of the unforgettable two nights.
Known for always bringing it that much night on the second night, Radiohead lived up to that mantra somehow upping the ante of the incredible first night. On stage, the lineup of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Philip Selway, and additional drummer Clive Deamer, don’t engage in much stage banter while performing, letting the music do all the speaking, as they should. That time is far too valuable.
They once again opened with the opening 5-song run of their mature and masterful new album A Moon Shaped Pool (out via XL Recordings), a clear frontrunner for album of the year. The songs were a haunting and dreamy start to the show, an overcast shadow for the impeding political shitstorm not just at home in the UK, but also right here in America as well. The clouds parted for the stunning early reveal of Bends anthem “My Iron Lung,” and Ok Computer back-end stunner, “Climbing Up The Walls.” Just like on night 1, there were special treats delivered on this night only, that the other audience didn’t receive. Those would include the previous mentioned songs, as well as “There There,” “Weird Fishes,” “The Gloaming,” “Pyramid Song,” and “Morning Mr. Magpie,” one of the more underrated songs from the somewhat unfairly maligned The King of Limbs.
Radiohead are the rare band that seems to have aged gracefully, finding new ways to surprise is both their music, as well as with their choices. On night 1 they surprised fans with the first performance of “Let Down” in 10 years. They ran through it yet again last night, a possible indication that they realized its time to bring it back into full rotation again. As if that wasn’t enough, they turned it back with a the sing-along anthem “Karma Police” (imagine singing that with a sold out MSG crowd), and a second encore night cap of “Creep,” a song that I truly believed I would never ever get to hear live. It was just one of those rules that you went into at a Radiohead show. Yet, for the first time since 2004, Radiohead delivered the taboo breakthrough single “Creep” to a US audience, signaling that the band may be letting go of old rules, giving in to a little bit of fan service every now and then. The look among fans as they kicked intro the opening bits of the song was chilling, as we strangers looked into one another, confirming with one another that yes, this was actually happening.
The beauty about Radiohead is that every single thing they do is so revered and enjoyable, that in a way, it’s all fan service. It’s good to see them back on the stage again, and we just hope that we don’t have to wait another few years to see them again. But if that’s the case, these glorious set of MSG shows will stay with me forever.
Find the setlist posted below, along with a photo gallery of both Radiohead, and openers Dawn Of Midi.
Radiohead Setlist:
1. Burn the Witch
2. Daydreaming
3. Decks Dark
4. Desert Island Disk
5. Ful Stop
6. My Iron Lung
7. Climbing Up the Walls
8. Morning Mr. Magpie
9. Pyramid Song
10. Bloom
11. Identikit
12. The Numbers
13. The Gloaming
14. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
15. Everything in Its Right Place
16. Idioteque
17. There There
Encore 1:
18. Give Up the Ghost
19. Let Down
20. Present Tense
21. Planet Telex
22. Karma Police
Encore 2:
23. Reckoner
24. Creep
Dawn Of Midi:
Radiohead:
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