<H1>"Rain Down, Rain Down": Radiohead at Nissan Pavilion. May 11th 2008</H1>

I’d become so accustomed to standing up in mud that every step on a solid surface sent a jarring shock to my ankles and knees.

The previous sentence was not lifted from an account of trench warfare during World War I. This was a description from last night’s Radiohead concert at Nissan Pavilion.

When I looked at the weather forecast, I knew that there was going to be rain. What I didn’t realize was that it was going to be a non-stop torrential downpour. Within minutes of handing in my ticket, I was soaked to the bone. My shoes were waterlogged, my thermal undershirt soggy, and my Lacoste rain jacket useless. When Liars took the stage at approximately 7:30pm, the rain had let up slightly, but a massive chill had come over my body. I was shivering so hard, I had to bite my tongue to keep my teeth from chattering.

When Thom Yorke and company finally took to the stage, I felt a tremendous sigh of relief. Not to say that Liars were no good. (On the contrary, they put up a pretty decent show, given the size of the crowd. Moreover, I loved their pre-show music. I believe it was North African, perhaps downloaded from Awesome Tapes from Africa?). But alas, I digress; I was here to see how Radiohead would pull off their songs live. I’ve been listening to this band since high school, and I’ve welcomed each new sonic direction they’ve taken. Seeing them live, however, has always proved elusive. Either I couldn’t get tickets or I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But listening to countless bootlegs and watching Grant Gee’s Meeting People is Easy, I knew that one day it would be totally worth it. And, if you ignore all the drama I described above, it was. Visually, this was one of the most well thought out shows I’d seen in a very long time. Even from the edge of the lawn, I could see the beautiful details of the hanging lights and video screens. As per the band’s performance. they were tremendous. They cherry picked songs from every album since The Bends and played the fuck out of them. When I concentrated hard enough, I actually forgot that I had lost nearly all feeling in my right foot.

SET LIST (Thanks to Chip from Brightest Young Things)
All I Need
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Lucky
15 Step
Nude
Pyramid Song
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Myxomatosis
Idioteque
Faust Arp
Videotape
Paranoid Android
Just
Reckoner
Everything In Its Right Place
Bangers + Mash
Bodysnatchers

ENCORES:
Like Spinning Plates
Optimistic
Karma Police (This is when we left)
Go Slowly
Planet Telex
—-
Fake Plastic Trees
The National Anthem
House of Cards


When I finally got into the car and took off my soaked shirt. I was relieved, sort of. It would be nearly an hour before we left the Nissan parking lot, but at least we had HEAT. My experience certainly doesn’t make me think any less of Radiohead. But I will probably never attend another outdoor, festival style concert again. And my heart goes out to all the people who a) sat in traffic even longer than I did and b) those who didn’t even make it to the show due to washed out roads and horrendous traffic.