Live And In The Flesh
Radiohead - June 8, 2006
After years of waiting for this moment, it had finally arrived. The opportunity to see Radiohead live would certainly be one of the biggest highlights of the summer of '06. Radiohead was last on tour in support of Hail to the Thief back in 2004. I was surprised to hear they would be heading back out on the road again so soon. They tend to be one of those bands who take their time between albums and tours, certainly nothing wrong with that. They had announced a small capacity venue run throughout a few major cities around the world for this tour.
I was excited to hear they would be stopping through the Hummingbird Centre down in Toronto for two nights, along with a two night stop in Montréal the days following. I had just seen Tool at this very venue not even a month prior and was I ever impressed with the atmosphere during that show. I was really wanting to guarantee my chances at seeing them there. I decided to try my luck at picking up tickets to their Toronto gig and low and behold I was one of the lucky few who were able to buy tickets as soon as they went on sale, and they sold out quick. I decided to aim for their second night in the city thinking the first would receive the largest demand. My hunch paid off and our tickets ended up landing us in the third row of the mezzanine, one of the first few rows of the balcony. As much as I would have loved to have hit up both nights, this wouldn't be one of my many doubleheaders. There have been very few shows that have been able to compete with the amazing view and atmosphere the Hummingbird Centre was able to provide throughout that night we witnessed Radiohead for the very first time.
I had known that I was going to be in for something spectacular, but what followed literally blew me away. We were settled into our seats attempting to soak in the amazing view and all of a sudden the lights went out and everyone began to cheer. Radiohead hit the stage coming out swinging with one of my favourite tracks off of Hail to the Thief, The Gloaming. Next thing we knew we were hearing completely new Radiohead tracks. Bangers + Mash was wild to see. The energy that these guys would bring to the stage, Thom Yorke alone even, was incredible to experience. The pace kept picking up as they dove into another new track off of their new album which hadn't received a title as-of-yet. 15 Step had proven to be one of the highlights for me that night. That track live was remarkable, I was hooked on Radiohead's live performance and we were only a few songs into their set. Their light show was proving to be as equally mind-blowing. Several obscurely-shaped LED screens scattered in the background just above the band provided close-ups of individual band members throughout the night. The screens had proven to be quite hypnotic throughout some of the songs as they lent themselves to the music.
Radiohead started to dive into their back catalogue a bit and played some of their older tracks. Kid A was fantastic, I was happy to even see anything off of that album or Amnesiac. They would even dig back into The Bends and play Fake Plastic Trees. You could feel the energy within the room continue to build as each song would finish and they would begin into their next. Idioteque, Climbing Up the Walls, I couldn't believe how well all of their unique sounds translated live. This night would be the first night for the band to debut their track Down Is the New Up live, I feel grateful for being lucky enough to have been apart of something like that. It would seem like we were treated to one new song after the next, all the while their fantastic older material was fitting seamlessly amongst the mix.
Radiohead jammed through Paranoid Android, their classic off of OK Computer before leaving the stage briefly to hash out an encore for the cheering audience. Thom came out and situated himself at his piano. Individual LED screens focused in on him at several different angles as he began to play You and Whose Army? This would be the moment that I would never forget that night seeing them for the first time. They went on to play a few more songs before departing once more from the stage, and returning for one last song, There There. We were delighted to hear eight brand new tracks throughout their twenty-two song setlist. Each and every single song played was outstanding. Ever since this show I have done all I can to ensure that I will never miss another.