Radiohead Live @ the Greek Theater

I saw Radiohead last night at the Greek Theater. Actually, I heard Radiohead, since I technically never saw them during the entire performance. I didn't have tickets so I listened to the show from the parking lot on the hill above the Greek Theater. Several hundred others were also sitting on the hill, so you can guess that it wasn't a bad spot to take in a free Radiohead show. I could only a see little bit of the stage but the sound was great. The Greek is small - where I was sitting was equivalent to being in the back lawn of Nissan Pavilion or Great Woods.

The show was alright - they played a good mix of old, recent and new stuff. They opened with "You and Whose Army?" which I didn't think was a good opener, nor did it sound too good. Many other songs from Amnesiac were in the mix, including "Like Spinning Plates", "Packed Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box", and "Morning Bell". My favorite of the night was probably "Everything is in its Right Place." They really amped it up and it had a great driving beat. I thought the drum work throughout the whole show was pretty strong - lots of tight snarl rolls and other nice fills (was that a drum machine? I don't know, I couldn't see!). "Exit Music" was okay - Thom's voice was strong throughout the show but not on this one.

If the new songs they played were any indication of what to expect from the new album, then........well, I don't know what to expect. The new ones were quite varied. Some were chill with some great piano parts and moody guitars. Others were frantic and manic sounding. Overall, expect an album with really strong arrangements - instrumentation sounded smart and intriguing, a Radiohead staple.