Oopps, I Missed Reckoner
Radiohead wasn’t high on my list of amazing bands. This all changed at Giants Stadium. I attended the one off Field Day Festival which included a rainy performance from Radiohead. I was blown away by the stage presence and musical talent. They had a G4 and Moog in the same instrument array! Maybe it was the Tunderbird in the parking lot, but I think it was the music. I was hooked.
Ever since that experience, I’ve tried to see as many Radiohead shows as possible. It seems to get harder and harder to get good tickets. They run their own tours, so they control the ticket sales. This keeps scalpers from gobbling up all the good seats, but you have to be on your game to score good seats. I was lucky enough to procure 4 GA tickets to the Santa Barbara Bowl.
When I bought the tickets, I wasn’t sure where I’d be. This was back in the spring. Truth be told, Teresa and I already were considering high tailing out of Oregon. We weren’t sure where, but I figured the Santa Barbara Bowl was a musical icon. No matter where I was in country, I’d hit up a show their that featured Radiohead. By a stroke of good luck, just the week or so before the tickets went on-sale, we traveled to Santa Barbara to visit Anna and her friends from Grad School. We hit it off with Matt and Erin and feel in love with SB. The show as meant to be.
As its turned out, we are only about 120 miles from Santa Barbara. The show was on a Thursday, so Teresa and I drove up in the early afternoon. It took almost four hours. I wasn’t surprised. The 405 is a mess. LA traffic is like Northeast traffic. Its slow and annoying; you just deal.
I’d been monitoring the Radiohead message boards. It appeared the show wouldn’t start until after 830pm. With this in mind, Teresa, Erin, Matt and I had a Mexican dinner. The tiny joint near the Bowl was tasty. I can’t remember its name, but the quesadilla was good.
We had to park a few blocks from the venue. Its smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood. We walked up and down pretty but hilly streets to the entrance. My heart sank as we got closer. I could hear loud music. The show started earlier than I thought. Such is life. We grabbed our bracelets, beer and walked toward our seats.
I thought the entire venue was GA, but I was wrong. We had pit GA. As we settled into a stage left position, I started to take in my surroundings. Striking. I wish I’d been in the Bowl at sunset. This venue is up there with the Gorge and Red Rocks. Although, its really intimate; I think capacity is about 8000. Its carved into the side of a mountain. Above the pit are rows of repeating seats each only a few hundred feet long. At the ends of the rows are gorgeous groomed trees. They kind that grown very tall but have crazy branches in every directions. The leaves seem to be manicured in perfect shapes. Its very cool. Behind stage left is a view straight to the ocean. Again, this would be sick at twilight. The entire place has a feeling of a small get-together on the side of a hill. Its a unique and heartwarming experience.
I don’t know what was more exciting, the lighting or the venue. The stage was dripping with long thin LED lights. They stretched from the top of the stage canopy to almost the floor except around the band. The strips framed Tom and company. It appeared that Radiohead was performing in a old school fun house.
As compared to earlier shows, this was a mellow Radiohead show. It was peaceful. They were ending the tour, so that might have influenced the show. I’m not saying it was a dud. I’m saying the vibe was relaxing. There was a lot of white people dancing, especially when Tom gyrated out of control. I didn’t feel the need to dance like a crazy man. I was digging my view. The sound was tuned perfectly. It wasn't deafening, and you could appreciate each tiny characteristic of their instruments. Here is the setlist:
1. Reckoner
2. Optimistic
3. There There
4. 15 Step
5. All I Need
6. Nude
7. Talk Show Host
8. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
9. The Gloaming
10. Morning Bell
11. The National Anthem
12. Faust Arp
13. No Surprises
14. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
15. The Bends
16. Karma Police
17. Bodysnatchers
Encore:
18. Cymbal Rush
19. House of Cards
20. Paranoid Android
21. Go Slowly
23. Videotape
24. Planet Telex
25. Idioteque
I thoroughly enjoyed The Bends, Nude, Idioteque, Bodysnatchers, and Paranoid Android. Tom played Cymbal Rush just on the piano. That was a cool moment. You can hear the entire thing on NPR. As you can see, I did miss Reckoner. Its my favorite on In Rainbows. It might be one of my favorite Radiohead tunes. I can't be too disappointed, the show was still Awesome. The Santa Barbara Bowl is a cool spot. I’ll be back.
The night didn’t end there. Teresa and I said goodbye to Erin and Matt. We hope to see them around SoCal more. We had a wonderful time hanging out. On our way out of Santa Barbara, we stopped at a McDonald’s for an apple pie and bathroom break. Leaving the bathroom, I walked right past Rainn Wilson aka Dwight Schrute. My jaw dropped. I didn’t know what to do. I’m glad I didn’t say hi, I’d just stutter like a fool. He is possibly one of the funniest humans on the planet. It was my first celebrity sighting in California. Well, I guess Tom Yorke was.
