The closest they ever came to Charlotte was Atlanta, four hours away, on a fucking Tuesday
I saw them as soon as I could, I do wish I had seen them back in the day. As much as I do like their new album, it's still not OK Computer or The Bends to me. It is my third favorite album of theirs, but I never got into the Kid A/Amnesiac style of Radiohead. Here's my xpost from a local forum:
How often does Radiohead come to Charlotte? Assuming you live here, you should have gone ahead and gotten as good a seats as you could afford if you were a fan. I was on their website buying tickets months ago and it took me 10 min to get through, my seats were in Section 8 row P.
That said, I could barely see as well. Not only that, but at 7:45 we were 10 minutes away, and we got in our seats after 9 after Radiohead had played at least 2 songs (they just finished up All I Need.) The traffic was the worst I've ever seen there, it really sucked. But, Radiohead sounded fantastic. I can see why they didn't use the side screens, but I wish they would have integrated them.
The visuals were very well done, behind the band was a live screen of trippy closeups of the band, mostly thom singing and cavorting. They had these bars of light streaming down that could do some neat effects and colors, that distorted the band onstage. Thom stole the show on the stage obviously, and his vocals sounded really good. The sound in the venue sounded a little off though, I've seen a lot of shows over the years there and the sound was a little muffled compared to what it normally was. I was in almost the same spot when Nine Inch Nails came and it was in a driving rainstorm and there were no such problems. It wasn't horrible, it just wasn't quite as pristene as I was expecting. The band themselves sounded fantastic, everything was just a bit muffled.
As far as the crowd, I have to echo the above sentiments. The cell phones didn't bother me, I'm used to that at shows now. I hate how distracting they are, though, as everyone tries to get some shitty cam recording (nice mic those things have) of the show instead of watching and listening to it. Everyone stood the whole show, which I expected, but me being short meant I couldn't see much. Honestly I could probably see better than on the lawn, though, as the stage is tiny if you're in the lawn and they aren't using the side screens.
The main thing that bugged the shit out of me about the crowd though was the sheer amount of what I call 'drunken frat boy doing his Ric Flair impersonation.' I can't stand it, the WHHOOOOOOooooo, everyone does it. Now, at some shows it's not too bad, they only do it in between songs as there is no rest in the music (ala Nine Inch Nails.) However, Radiohead is often about nuance, breaks, and quiet creshendos building towards climax. The effect is ruined though, as every quiet moment in the song was filled by some drunken douchebag trying to WHHHOooooo Thom. Shut up fuckheads and let me enjoy the music!
Other than that, I loved the show. A fan who doesn't like their new album would be disappointed but to me their new album is right up there with OK Computer and The Bends in my top 3 favorite albums. Unfortunately they didn't play a lot off those earlier records, there was one song from The Bends and a couple from OK Computer I believe, one from Hail To The Thief I think and a couple from Kid A/Amnesiac perhaps. The meat of the concert was from In Rainbows, however, they even spiced up the ending of Reckoner a bit. It all sounded so great live, and the crowd was enthusiastic, I'll give them that. Got a nice contact high too
Really glad to see them, even glad to bend over and pay $40 for a T shirt.
Here's the setlist:
Radiohead Charlotte Setlist
All I Need
There There
Airbag
15 Step
Nude
Sail to the Moon
Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi
Myxomatosis
Idioteque
Morning Bell
Videotape
Optimistic
Where I End and You Begin
You and Whose Army?
Everything In Its Right Place
Bangers and Mash
Bodysnatchers
1st Encore
Go Slowly
Talk Show Host
Exit Music (For A Film)
Planet Telex
House of Cards
2nd Encore
Paranoid Android
Reckoner
I also found flacs of the show I was at, I love when that happens
