Outside Lands Main Event: Radiohead
The final stage performance for day one of the inaugural Outside Lands Music Festival was unsurprisingly Radiohead. After all, what better band could have been chosen to play the first musical performance set after dark at the beautiful Golden Gate Park? It just seemed to make too much sense.
As the sun set and fellow performers began to pack up and go home, those attending day one of the San Francisco based festival rushed in to claim a spot in anticipation for Radiohead and its accompanying brilliant light show. The crowd was unbelievably huge. What seemed like millions packed in the surrounding area; all hoping to get a little closer. People were even piled up around the neighboring hills, hoping to get a better view from higher up. For the ones fortunate enough to get up close, they were guaranteed a likely life-changing experience - Radiohead’s acclaimed light show, up close and person. However, was it worth the struggle?
The answer was surprisingly, yes. Although we were bunched in so close together that it was hopeless to think we’d be able to not feel another person’s body on all four sides of us, the gathered crowd managed to have one hell of a time. At times, we all feared someone would pass out from dehydration, thanks to the intoxicatingly thick cloud of cigarette and marijuana smoke (not to mention, incredibly hot temperatures), but thankfully, by night’s end, no one did.
Performance wise, Radiohead played a mix of the somber, heart wrenching melodies that made them famous, and a lot of the more fast-paced songs featured on In Rainbows. However, due to circumstances beyond the band’s control, the performance got off to a pretty lackluster start. During song number three, “Airbag”, the sound completely cut out for about two minutes. The band responded by continuing to play with Thom Yorke proclaiming after the song that “someone spilled a beer back here on some of our chords.” While a collective laugh among the fans seemed to put the mishap in the rear view mirror, j
ust two songs later, during a rendition of “All I Need”, the sound problems showed their ugly face again. When it became evident that, this time, the solution wouldn’t be quickly, the crowd began to bellow out the lyrics (off key) in hopes of helping the situation, which turned out to be somewhat charming. Eventually the sound returned, Yorke again apologized, and the performance carried on with no further issues.
Radiohead continued on flawlessly as Yorke and the others played a number of their all-time favorites. “Talk Show Host” and “Fake Plastic Trees” got the crowd riled up, while “Karma Police” produced a scene of chaos with fans managing to bounce and hold up lighters at the same time. It was a chaotic and fun mix matched pleasure.
And the light show! Oh, the light show! Each one of the set’s 22 songs was perfectly matched up to appropriate mood lighting. Ranging from fast paced red and orange squiggles to light blue and white wave-like ripples that all crashed silently on the stage, the lights fit perfectly into every moment. The audience was left captivated and amazed by the beauty of it all and at points during the evening, they were even left speechless.
As Radiohead closed their set out, after playing for a little over two hours, day one of Outside Lands came to an end. The millions of people in attendance filed out at a painstaking slow pace toward a slew of over crowded buses. A collective mood of happiness seemed to radiate from the wearied festival goers, almost as if everyone was thinking the same thought - “I just experienced the crazy, mind-fuck light show experience they call a Radiohead performance. Nothing else really matters.”
Setlist:
01. 15 Step
02. Reckoner
03. Airbag
04. There There
05. All I Need
06. Nude
07. Talk Show Host
08. National Anthem
09. The Gloaming
10. Videotape
11. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
12. Idioteque
13. Karma Police
14. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
15. Just
16. Exit Music (for a film)
17. Bodysnatchers
Encore
18. Pyramid Song
19. You And Whose Army?
20. Paranoid Android
21. Fake Plastic Trees
22. Everything In Its Right Place
brilliant set list!
^ Agreed!
Not true. Someone passed out right in front of me next to the stage before they came out. She got up and even stayed in her spot for the show. I really hope my pot smoke didn’t help with that.
Oh and despite all the sound issues (for Airbag and All I Need), WONDERFUL SHOW. Best night of my life. Hope everyone had a great time.
Love Radiohead and this wasn’t their best performance. The venue was horrible, to many people for limited resources, a theme for the bay area. (painfully oversold concert)
Permanesia - I wasn’t aware anyone had passed out. I hope they are o.k. It indeed was an excellent show, glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Radiohead was sublime. But the producers chintzed out on caring for us concertgoers and no do doubt they oversold tickets. The place was uncomfortable and overcrowded (although a beautiful spot). There was a lot of hype about being Green but the garbage was knee deep as we walked out for what seemed like hours in the dark. Public transportation was not happening and we walked home for 3 hours. Thank God we were so happy and radiating light from hearing Radiohead, otherwise it would have SUCKED.
supposedly, according to an insider, the sound cut out because the digidesign console crapped out. digidesign has been trying to get their foot in the door in the live sound world and ’sponsored’ this event (or somethin like that the story goes). good job digidesign!
Well, the article seems to dreamy, and don’t get me wrong the show was amazing but i think the afterward chaos is worth mentioning.
After Radiohead closed the show, everyone was trying to get out really violently and the exits were too small. we had to jump over a fence, went under another one and finally got stuck near a bee hive that stung my friend in the head. so kudos to Radiohead for giving an amazing show but… fuck the organizing team who im sure is getting sued by the city for damage and by attendees for bee stings.
The show was so awesome and i didnt even smoke pot. Well the guy before me did and the guy next to me and the guy behind me did but it was just so perfect.
to the thing with the sound cutting out. Thomas York said somebody had put a beer next to the plug or something like that.
Well i liked it whenn in all you need the sound came off and the whole croud was singin “im in the middle of your picture”