Bonnaroo and Regan

A few weeks ago, Rob got invited to go on an overnight fishing trip with a friend.  I told him that he should go, it would be fun (it wasn't, but that's another story).  The only thing that made me nervous about this was that I knew I was going to see The Exorcist (for the first time ever, on the big screen no less) a couple days before he was to leave.  I started wondering if that was a wise thing to do.  I went anyway and it didn't scare me as bad as I thought it might.  (More on that whenever I get around to my what I've been watching post).  Friday came and Rob left, I took the girls out for rice bowls at Rumbi's.  Scout went to bed kind of early and so it was just Elle and I.  Elle, I and a live streaming Radiohead concert at the Bonnaroo Music Festival!  Elinor and I had a great time, the light show was right up her alley and Thom was in such a funny mood.  The concert was a lot of fun, and Thom hinted at a Radiohead/Jack White collaboration (!!!!!!!!!!)

At some point we switched to the laptop (better sound)

Lola joined us after a while

Suck face signaled the end of Elle's concert experience.

While watching I was also texting with Matt while he was watching and I was also chatting with B on facebook.  It was like we were all at the concert together (well sort of, I was lying on my own bed- which is kind of nice too).  My neighbor Charity was also chatting on facebook and by "chatting" I mean she was doing her best to scare the crap out of me.  I had text her earlier that if I come running into her house wild eyed at 1 in the morning it was because Rob is gone and I just saw The Exorcist.  She told me that she and Josh have a king sized bed and I would fit comfortably between them.  What I didn't know was Charity's fiendish side when it comes to scaring people.  She kept reminding me that Regan was most likely watching with us.  She also asked me if I knew the weird looking guy that had been standing outside my house staring at it for the last half hour. 

No thanks to Charity or our hall light that decided to flicker (seriously?- there is light flickering action in the movie) I totally made it without freaking out (and Josh and Charity woke up that morning without 3 additional people in their bed).  I even slept with the lights out- I was proud of that.

However, I made Lola sleep by me.  She stuck around me that night way more then usual.  She slept on the floor by my side of the bed during concert watching time and she has never done that.  She has her own chaise in Elinor's room which is the only piece of furniture she is allowed on, and she pretty much spends her time sleeping there, so it was strange for her to be on the floor there.  Maybe she sensed that she was wanted or maybe she just missed daddy.  After I put Elle to bed however, she took her place on her bed and I got into mine and decided I liked having her there.  So........ I dragged the cushion off her couch and put it next to my bed.  She was in heaven.  She loved it and stayed there all night and I was happy too.

After years of waiting........

The Great RH Road Trip:  The Concert

"Before you run away from me

Before you're lost between the notes

Just as you take the mic

Just as you dance, dance, dance"

-Jigsaw Falling Into Place          

Photo by dai on w.a.s.t.e

I would like to dedicate this post to Megan, Alex, and Sean*.  It's because of you guys so many years ago that I found myself at Jobing.com Arena on March 15th 2012, experiencing one of the greatest nights of my life.   Thanks so much I owe you all a huge debt of gratitude for suggesting a band to me, knowing I might like them.  What do you know?  I did.

*there was a fourth, but I can't remember his name for the life of me.

Phone call at 12:30pm on Thursday (concert day),  Rob: "I can't believe I was able to wait so long to call you today, I've been thinking about you all day and have been so excited.  It isn't every day that someone's dream comes true."

I've been having a hard time trying to figure out how to write this post.  I've been feeling a lot of pressure from myself to make it deserving of the concert.  I need to let that go and just write.  (It usually works out fine when I do that.)  How to start though?  I think the bulk of it will be the setlist and my thoughts during the particular songs, but first some random overall things:

-Looking over the setlists from the King of Limb's tour, I honestly can say that the Glendale, Arizona Setlist is the one I would have hand picked if I could choose. (RH gods gift #4)  In fact, the other concert I very nearly went to was the one in Denver and that is my least favorite setlist so far (phew).   There were songs on the tour that I would have LOVED to hear (You and Whose Army?, Karma Police and Seperator come to mind) Oh, and Meeting in the Aisle (a B side that goes back a long ways, but had never been played live before this tour.  It is an instrumental and so fantastically awesome.  I LOVE LOVE watching videos of them playing it.  The good thing is- I love watching videos of them playing it, so that will do) and hey, 1. I can't think of any song I would have dropped in their place and 2.  You've got to save something for next time right?

-I dislike Ed's current haircut (it's really 80's new wave) and on my concert night, he was wearing a bowler hat, just for me I like to think.  RH gods gift #5 (soooooo petty I know, but kind of awesome nonetheless how much the RH gods were catering to me huh?  I must have been a good girl this year).

 Photo by Aye Mel on w.a.s.t.e

-Colin was so dang cute I couldn't believe it.  He was so excited and so smiley and funny back there on bass I watched him waaaay more then I ever would have thought.  He won me over that night, and I was already a fan- he is the best interviewer when it comes to the band and he just seems like a friendly guy.  Marcus and I kept yelling to each other about how cute he was.   

 Photo by dai on w.a.s.t.e

-Jonny looked like he could have done his taxes while he was playing his guitar (in a good way).  I was blown away by how that guy can play like the guitar is absolute second nature to him.  He makes it look unbelievably easy and I know it's not and he is doing a million things to make the songs sound the way they do.

photo by dai on w.a.s.t.e

 photo by arico on w.a.s.t.e

-I loved watching Ed sing back up vocals.  I know he is the voice that does the backups, but watching and hearing him live was quite another story.

-I now know where Thom is the most natural and at ease:  performing for his fans.  He was amazingly relaxed and loose and you could tell he was happy and was totally enjoying himself.  It brought joy to my heart knowing he was so happy up there.  Cheesy, yes- but you know what?  He hasn't always been and as a fan, it means a lot to me to see him in a place where he obviously is enjoying it.  He loves his fans- that was very apparent.  Miley Cyrus can suck it.

-A few songs in, Matt points at him and goes, "look at how little his legs are!"  He really is a small guy and had his pant's cuffed which made him look even littler.  It was so cute.  I wanted to take him home in my pocket.

- I thought I knew this before, but I had no idea.  That man can DANCE.  He was all over the stage the whole night.  The music is in him and it pours out through dance in a very primal way and it was an experience in itself to see it  happen before your eyes.

-Hmmm.  I didn't mention Phil.  As Scout would say, "awkward!"  I'm sorry Phil, you just play your drums like a master all the way back there and kind of get lost.  Here is a pic though:

 Photo by inez on w.a.s.t.e

I'm pretty sure that's Phil..............he and Clive look so much alike dang it!

I should also mention that they had an extra drummer for the tour.  He is Cliver Deamer and is the drummer for Portishead.  They needed another drummer to play the TKOL's stuff live, otherwise they would have needed a drum machine.

Alright, let's get started:

Bloom

They walked on stage, they were there.  Smiling and waving.  THEY WERE THERE!   They picked up their instruments and started playing their first song.  This is the opening song of The King of Limbs and they have started every concert this tour with this song.  "Open your mouth wide, a universal sigh"  was the first lyric I heard of the night.  Fantastic.  I am afraid I spent much of the song screaming and pointing at either Thom or Jonny and just yelling the word, "look!"  That's about all I could do for a few minutes.  For the tour they have this backdrop of 14,400 recycled water bottles with an led light in the rim and the light show this creates is amazing and hypnotic.  THEN, as this song continued, 12 monitors floated down and positioned themselves, hovering and moving around.  They were a mash up of faces and hands strumming guitars and were constantly changing.  It was so phenomenal and artistic it was hard to get over.  It wasn't just straight from the camera shots either, they had a wash like feeling about them that blew my mind. 

photo by Dan on pasificlectic

photo by arico on w.a.s.t.e

This song and the whole ball of wax and what this meant was just senses overload.  And the night had just begun.

During this song I started smelling weed being smoked nearby, but thought little of it (set up).

15 Step

Still in a fan freak-out fog here.  Great dancing song.  Very up beat and fun- it's the opening song on In Rainbows.  More screaming, pointing and yelling LOOK!, but also finding a great joy in just watching Thom do his thing.  He had a charisma I didn't know he had.  I thought I would be watching Jonny all night in awe, but watching Thom during this song I figured out that was not quite going be the case. The guy in front of me was hunkered down a little at one point during this song and I was taking advantage of him not in my way and was leaning forward a little, noticing that the weed smell was very strong and turned my head to Matt and said, "that's close" and while I said it, a huge puff of smoke raised from the hunching guy and surrounded my face.  Yeah- I'd say it was close- I'm a genius.

Airbag

Another album opener (theme?).  But this time it was from my very first RH album I ever had- OK Computer.  With the first strum of this song, well- my computer was not OK.  This is the part of the concert where it all hit me and the reality of where I was and what I was doing over came me and I blipped out.  eeee...short circut...eeee.   I turned around and hugged Matt and my feet left the ground and I breathed.  Then when I came down I spluttered a bunch of nonsense sentences to him.  For one thing, I absolutely adore the song in it's own right.  It's a fantastic song.  When it plays though, (and I actually explained this in the car on the way out to Arizona) there is this moment I have in the opening riff when I get this happy tingle in my soul that OK Computer is starting and I get to listen to it.    Do you know that feeling?  It never fails to bring back the hours I spent in New York alone listening to it and discovering it.  It is special to me in a Radiohead sacred kind of way, and hearing them play it so early in the set was perhaps too much for my mental computer to compute.  "That moment" happening in the concert was probably inevitable though, so I may as well get it over with.  At the end of the song, all of a sudden Jonny just rips through the opening riff again super loud and weed guy and me spontaneously turned to each other and go "no way!"  I said that actually, he said "what???!!"  Then we did this little hug thing in excitement. 

That is the end of weed boy saga- we never acknowledged each other again.  (One thing I just loved about that night- perfect strangers just so deliriously happy we were all close and best friends, didn't care who each other were, just knowing that the guy next to you was likely to be experiencing a perfect moment just like you.  Cause they get it.)

Little by Little

A song from TKOL, one of my favorites actually.  Great lyrics.  Thom confused the order of the two little by little verses at the beginning.  Not sure how many people noticed- I did.  He didn't skip a beat and just sang then in reverse order and said nothing about it.  Awesome.  

Myxamatosis

I remember this one as being particularly awesome lighting wise and dancing wise.  I am convinced that Thom really enjoys performing this song.   It's a fan favorite from Hail to the Thief. 

The Gloaming

Another song from Hail to the Thief, it is a really hypnotic song and Thom drove that feeling further with his arm movements and the lighting display.  It was about as other worldly as it got in that room that night.  The beat is amazing and the lyrics are about the witching hour (the gloaming is another word for twilight time) and he sings about genies being let out of the bottle and the song culminates into the repeating lines, "your alarm bells, your alarm bells, they should be ringing they should be ringing........"  the led lights were blinking down like rain.  Intense and awesome.

Morning Mr. Magpie

My most vivid memory of this TKOL's song was the bridge part.  I marveled about how amazing these songs sound live and how different an experience they are in an arena then they are on your ipod.  The bridge was something I never gave a second thought to, now I can't wait for that part of the song when it plays cause it's BRILLIANT.

Pyramid Song

This is one of the most beautiful poetic songs in their collection.  It also brings with it an iconic image of Jonny turning his guitar around like a cello and playing it with a bow at the beginning.  Thom is on piano.  It's an image all RH fans know and love.  Loved being there for that.  Being so close to Jonny I could watch his fingers slide around the neck of his guitar and hear the strange sounds they produced with each movement.  Studying it made me feel like I was alone in a museum or something and able to really examine it for myself.  The arena and the people around me disappeared for a few minutes.  I pulled out the camera for a minute during that time- as you saw.

The Daily Mail

While Thom was at the piano, he might as well do this song.  It is no secret this is one of my current favorites.  I think it is one of the best songs they've written in years (it was released as a single after TKOLs came out).  Knew they'd play it-- so glad they did, it was magic.

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

An In Rainbows favorite for me, and was another example of how much better these songs can be live.  Particularly the last two albums.  They were made to be played live.  The arena wakes them up somehow and who knew they were sleeping?

Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box

Thom proceeded this song with the words "and now for a little experiment".  I was like,  "what???  A new song?  What does he mean by that?  Is he going to totally work over and change an old song?"  Then the familiar beat of Packt hit the air and the crowd exploded.  This is another opening song to an album- this time Amnesiac.  I knew enough to know that they hadn't played this song yet on tour, so that is when I figured what he meant by "experiment".  I found out later that they hadn't played that song since 2001 (during the Amnesiac tour), so he probably meant- lets see what happens if we dust the cobwebs off this little number.  It's a fantastic song with a million little sounds happening all the time.  So fun to be there for that.  I loved it!

Identikit

This song debuted on this tour, and was written in January during rehearsals for the tour.  I was in love with first listen when I saw a video of it after the first concert in Miami.  I had watched that video enough to know the words.  Thom proceeded this song with a little speech about how the new material is why they do this (touring) and that looking forward is better then looking back, but looking back is ok too (he botched that last bit and declared that he was just going to shut up now).  He mentioned that this song is one of his very favorites.  I was happy cause it's one of my favorite's too.  This song was my first of two moments where I believe Thom and I had a moment.  There is a part of the song that is repeated that says, "now I see you messing me around- I don't want to know, I don't want to know".  During the last few sets of that line for the song, he happened to walk right exactly in front of where I was standing and was crouching a little and singing it to us.  I was the only one in the vicinity that was interacting with him with the song (I was singing it back to him and shaking my finger) and I swear he was focused on me for a moment or two.  Everyone else was just screaming or standing there. 

Lotus Flower

Perhaps the most famous song of TKOLs, special thanks to that crazy video of Thom dancing to it.  He didn't pull any punches dancing to it that night either, all the while dancing around the stage with three full size maracas in one hand.  Matt and I pointed this out and giggled.  One or two just must not have been enough.  I was starting to be able to figure out his favorite parts of certain songs.  He would just suddenly come alive for a few minutes and totally lose himself in the beat.  It just looked like there was this happy release in his brain when those parts would show up and he celebrated.

There There

Another iconic RH moment.  This songs starts off with the whole band except Thom and Colin on drums.  What an image.  Sooooo glad I got to see that too!  I didn't have a very long wish list, only 3 or so songs- I tried not to have one at all, but couldn't kid myself that one didn't exist.  This song was on that short list- just for all the drumming.  I think it is such a cool idea.  I couldn't believe my luck on the songs they were choosing for our show.  It was unbelievable- I felt like they were putting on a show for me.  Later, watching videos of this song, it was funny to watch Ed, he broke like 5 drum sticks throughout the song and at the end broke his second to last one, so he turned it around (without missing a beat) and played it with the handle until he broke that, then threw it on the ground and had to play the last few beats with just one.  He obviously breaks them pretty frequently since he had a collection of back ups, but I wonder how often he breaks them all?  Jonny played with four- two in each hand.  He finishes the song on guitar and it knocks me out.

Feral

My least favorite song from TKOLs.  But is many a fan's favorite.  It is a fine song, but a little more dance clubesque, and kind of interrupts the album for me.  I'd like it better out of context, just played randomly in a mix.  Anyway, watching it live definitely endeared it to me and made me appreciate it more.  I think I get it a little better now and loved watching Thom on the sound mixer and the weird microphone.  I would love to watch him DJ sometime.

Idioteque

Hearing this song start was exciting for me twofold.  First of all, it is my favorite Kid A song.  It is so brilliant.  But that aside, it meant much more to me hearing it.  You see, they have been closing all the concerts lately with one of two songs- Idioteque and Paranoid Android.  It is important for you all to know that it has been a 12 year long dream for me to hear Paranoid Android live.  That song has a certain quality to it that begs to be played live.  It is a song I need to admit that if they hadn't played it that night, I would have walked away with a twinge of regret.  There isn't any song they have that I could say the same for, not one.  So, hearing this song start told me that I had a very very good chance I was going to hear P A that night.  Oh and by the way, they SHREDDED Idioteque.  I remember a moment when I was watching Thom dance and sing his guts out and thinking, "how in the world does this guy keep this up?"  I was standing there with a pain that traveled from my neck all the way down the left side of my body to the heel of my foot.  I hadn't even thought of fainting since they walked on stage, but I couldn't deny the pain signals my body was screaming at me by this time of the night (don't you think it factored into ANYTHING or slowed me down for a second or anything like that.......but it was there).  Thom put me to shame.

Encore 1:

How to Disappear Completely

This is a fan favorite.  It is a haunting, from the guts song on Kid A and really speaks to some people.  It doesn't speak to me like that, but I love it anyway.  It's a slow ballad, so the arena quieted down and soaked it in.  Marcus had told me earlier that it is the song that hooked him and turned him into a fan (his first album was Kid A).  During the song, I had to hunt him down and give him a happy pat on the back, knowing that this must be a particularly moving and awesome moment for him.

Kid A

Not much to say about this one.  Obviously from Kid A (completing a set of three songs from that album- cool for sure).  This is like most Kid A songs- a treat of sounds that sound amazing together the more and more times you listen to them.

Lucky

The only song of the night that almost drew tears (hey- I was surprised as anyone that I didn't bawl like a baby several times during the night) for some reason, this experience didn't elicit tears.  Who knew?  Anyway, this song has always been a favorite of mine and then to my surprise, it ended up being Rob's favorite RH song.  So it was special and sad to me to hear them sing this without my zing beside me.  It would have knocked his socks off.  It was epic.  I loooooove the lyrics and almost inexplicably has one of my most favorite lyrics in any of their songs.  I say inexplicably because I am not sure what it is about it that I love so much, I just do and that is going to have to be enough of an explanation.  "Kill me Sarah, kill me again- with love".  It's a simple lyric and perhaps not on anyone else's radar, but it's always been on the forefront of mine.  Like I said- you never know sometimes what is going to affect you and how.  This song also holds one of the most memorable times of the night for me.  The last few minutes when most of the lyrics have been sung- there is some riveting guitar at play.  Seeing it live- Ed, Thom and Jonny lined up next to each other, each wailing their guitars together to combine to make that amazing moment of the song that will be burned into my memory forever and be thought of often.  Matt said that at the Pixie's concert he would take a moment he liked and make a mental note to remember it cause it was awesome, and it worked.  I did that here and so far, it was remained memorable and vivid.  Thanks for the tip Matt.

Bodysnatchers

This song before the concert was probably at the bottom 3 songs in my mind from In Rainbows.  Not anymore.  Remember how I said that some songs played live are much better?  Well, this is the prime example of that phenomenon- this song was transformed, but not real different from the studio version at the same time.  This song was so much fun and so fantastic.  I've watched videos of it and they don't capture the magic I felt that night.  But listening to it does a pretty good job.  Matt even turned to me at one point in the song and asked, "what song is this?"  I know he felt it too.

Encore 2:

Give Up the Ghost

The only ones that came on stage for this song after the encore applause was Thom and Jonny.  I knew we were about to get one of those intimate Thom and Jonny acoustic moments and how sweet it was.  Thom dedicated the song on behalf of the band to their families who they miss, but get to see soon cause they have a 3 week break after this concert.  This is one of my very favorite songs from TKOL.  It is seriously beautiful, they didn't play my other two favorites, so that made this one extra special.  Funny moment:  RIGHT before they started it I breathed out pretty quietly, "this is going to be so good" and the guy in front of me surprisingly heard me, turned around and silently nodded, affirming my prediction.  Wow, it was too.  I was not mistaken.

Reckoner

A very favorite song of mine from In Rainbows, but I found this performance a tad off.  For some reason I didn't love the minor changes they did to it.  I mean- it was still AMAZING, but if I am to say anything slightly negative, it is that this song just didn't really do it for me that night like I'd think it would.  I have no explanation for that.  Still enjoyed it with all my heart though, don't get me wrong.

Paranoid Android

Thom thanked us very very sincerely for coming, it almost made me cry again.  He really meant it.  Then he said, "with love from us, this is Paranoid Android".  He was talking directly to me.  He closed the night with the Radiohead gods whispering in his ear of the last gift of the night for Emily and he obeyed.  It was everything it could be.  It was epic, every second of it was a monument to my personal fanhood.  It was my apex.  In the middle of it, Matt said, "come on!" I grabbed his arm and we went up and over to Thom.  We pushed through the crowd and were finally stopped by fans that did not want us to move.  Didn't care at this point.  We were going to have our moment (ironically, by stopping us, they stopped two taller then average people to stand the remaining time right in front of them)  hope they didn't  regret that too much- heehee.  Oh, that stopping was actually THE final RH god gift- somehow, we found ourselves with a sea of really short people in front of us.  And we were close to the stage at this point and RIGHT in front of Thom and this would bring about my second and final Thom moment of the night.  He looked at us and seemed to say (in Matt's words later), "who are these tall freaks that just appeared right in front of me?"  He TOTALLY noticed us.  It was during the end of the part of the song with the rain down rain down where the audience does the groaning part while Thom sings about the panic and the vomit.  Won't ever EVER forget that and thanks Matt, I never would have thought of doing that and it created a memory I will always look back on very fondly.  God loves his children, God loves his children YEAH!!!!!!!!

♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫

Well, that is that I guess.  What a night.  An experience that will always be super, super special to me.  I think we got an extra good show that night.  I am sure they are all good, but there was a special feeling in the air that night, coming from the fans and the band.  I think going to the last concert of the first leg of the tour was a GREAT thing to do, mostly because I think the band had a certain level of excitement knowing that they were flying home for a few weeks.  I think it gave Thom an extra spring in his step.  And gave them all a little feeling of wanting to make it special and perhaps some renewed energy.  It could have gone the other way, with their heads already half home and them just phoning in this last concert.  The RH gods would never had let that happen though.

more overall observations:

-Jonny disappeared for halves of songs sometimes and Matt and I wondered where he went.  We were able to find out from B later what he was doing.  He had more equipment back there, and was just out of our sight, shaking maraca things and what not.

-I was so impressed by these guys.  Seriously.  I know you're saying duh right now, but it is so cool to go to a concert and watch REAL musicians.  Talented doesn't even cover it.  They are polished, they are professional, perfectionists, innovators and are at the top of the game.   They do a lot of looping and there are a million instruments and sounds that go into every song and they do it all on stage when they could easily play much of it on tracks for a show.  Instead, you can stand there and watch each band member (especially Jonny, Ed and Thom, but they all do a million things) go from instrument to sound board, Jonny will create a loop at the beginning and play it through the song, turning it off and on when needed.  Ed will play the drums for a minute, switch to guitar, back up vocals, bang a tambourine, etc.  Thom sings lead, bangs a keyboard for a minute, shakes maracas (3 at a time sometimes) fiddle with a sound board to adjust a minor little thing that is off probably only to him (give Jonny silent directions about turning something up or down once in a while), etc.  It is enough to blow your mind.  It was so impressive to me that all those little sounds that happen in a RH song, happened right there on stage.  Maybe it shouldn't have, but it really did surprise me. It also really brings home the fact of how lame it is that some singers are so popular and famous and they don't play an instrument, write a song, and even their voice is enhanced to sound better.  I love to see real talent, the difference is mind blowing. 

And finally................Thanks to my two sisters, Cat and Sue that came down to AZ just to be with us and to watch my kids while I rocked and for wanting to be there to share the joy of this experience I had.  B, you were so super cool about everything about the concert and I'm glad you got a better seat, wish you were with us but I was impressed it didn't get you down that you weren't.  That would have been an awesome concert to sit back alone and experience in your head by yourself.  Sounds like you chatted it up yourself with some fans and that's awesome, hope they weren't snobby to you and respected the fact that you weren't a hard core fan and knew every song and the order in which they appear on the albums.  I hope you had fun and I won't ever forget the sacrifice you made so I could have my perfect concert by loaning your husband to me for a while.  Rob, you were so supportive of my going.  Sometimes I feel like you work hard so I can go have fun and spend money.  I hope you know I fully appreciate you and your attitude and I love that you understand my crazy obsession and support me.  I love you, my heart of hearts was sad you weren't at my side that night.  And lastly Matt, I was excited knowing you would be the one sharing this with me.  It meant a lot that you were there.  A LOT!  Perhaps more then you know.  Also, I kind of think you may have had something to do with our extraordinary luck that night. If memory serves, it seems like you have had some pretty crazy awesome luck in your concert life.  So thanks- love you.  LOVE ALL OF YOU! 

I'd also like to thank the Radiohead gods for acknowledging the sacrifices I have made through the years when it comes to Radiohead.  Thank you for seeing fit to bestow your many wonderful gifts upon this little ol' fan.

I was going to include the post concert things, but this post is PLENTY long enough, so......

To be continued........................................................

"After years of waiting
Nothing came
As your life flashed before your eyes
You realize"

- Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box

      

                 

Karma Police

The Great RH Road Trip:  Day two, Getting Into the Show or The Night the Radiohead gods Showed Mercy and Smiled on Emily

I had a hard time figuring out the RH lyric or song that would be the best fit to title this post until the obvious choice dawned on me.................Karma Police...................

(FYI:  The runners up were:

A Wolf at the Door

[Nice Dream]

Fitter Happier

and

Sit Down, Stand Up)

Would have also worked:  Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box................Ah, the fun I have.

You see, this post is the story of a girl, a loyal, patient fan of a certain little band.  She loved this band dearly, and it took a long time for this girl to finally be able to see this favorite band in person.  She was very patient about the wait too, and hardly ever complained about it (I took a liberty in those last few facts).  When she was finally in a position to see this band, obstacles met her at every turn.  Tour dates were announced.  She wanted to see this band with her husband and he is in school until April and this was going to require a road trip.  The first dates released didn't include some areas of the country they were very willing to travel to, and these first dates were all during the week, during school.  So she bit her nails, sat on her hands and waited and waited for more dates to be announced.  Of course they would announce more dates!  Those tickets went on sale.  Those concerts sold out.  More dates released!  She picked a few convenient locations and waited for presales.  Presales for the excellent tickets (ie general admission, floor) were sold early on the band's own website.....................on her niece's wedding day.  Posh........so what?  So we miss the presale.  There will be more tickets through Ticketmaster, even GA ones.  We will be at the computer the second they are released-no problem. Ah, how young I was then.

PROBLEM.  What happened next was some major sold out madness.  Tickets were gone within seconds of release.  A few tickets came up.  Nosebleeds.  Ok.  No problem.......... lets wait a few days and not go to that concert, we'll go to California.  Same thing only worse.  What was going on????  More sitting on hands and waiting for more Ticketmaster sales.  Presales:  gone in seconds.  Few days later:  Ticketmaster gone before they were even on sale.  Backup plan instigated.  Go to some secondary ticket seller sights and see what's up.  YIKES!  Every venue had tickets we wanted...........................................for 400 + bucks a pop.  Every venue except for one.  Enter:  Glendale Arizona.  For some reason, lovely Arizona- you had tickets for just a bit over ticket price.  You were hundreds of dollars less then everywhere else.  I don't know why.  I wonder if because you are in the Southwest, and therefore a bit out of the way for much of the country.  This girl didn't care!  Glendale it was.  We chose GA tickets for about double the cost of an original ticket.  The difference will not matter in 10 years right?  Tickets in virtual shopping cart.  Fees tacked on.  Triple the price now?  Regroup.  Lets find the best section in the place and be happy we are actually seeing the best band in the whole world (and bring binoculars).  Lets see........ tickets for 3 people.  Can't do that?  Awesome sis in law steps up and declares she will sit alone and buy a single ticket a little higher in the venue and be totally cool about it.  Done.  Tickets bought.  Relief: sighed.

Now this girl may be getting on in years a little bit, but she can still rock it with the best of them front and center amidst a million pushing and sweaty moshing fans.  In fact, in her opinion, that's the only way to do it.  You know what though?  Sometimes everything doesn't turn out the way we want it to and we make compromises and we deal with it and we consider ourselves lucky we get to be there at all.  You know.........people are lining up for these concerts 10 hours early and waiting in a queue all day just to get a good spot.  Sounds like the floor is going to be madness and scary.  Perhaps being in a GREAT seat, with a little room and a pair of binoculars is going to be great.  Yep.  It will be awesome, don't have to show up early, chill out that day, waltz into the stadium and sit and enjoy the concert of a lifetime. 

This girl was excited.  She couldn't wait.  She was excited for her section on Jonny's side of the stage.  Yet..........an evil little voice would rear it's head from time to time, whispering, "you belong on the floor with the sweaty obsessed people.  You should be there with them.  You should be as close to the band as you can possibly get.  You should be sweated on by Thom Yorke.  You've earned that."  The girl admits to contemplating her options.  She was tempted to buy a ga ticket now and then.  She saw that fans on fan sites had an extra ga ticket once in a while that they would sell for cost because they felt like helping a brother out as opposed to the dirty rotten ticket scalpers that were determined to squeeze blood from these hapless fans that only want to see the band that makes their world go round.  The girl knew that if she bought a new ticket she would leave her brother behind and be alone down there.  Not very cool.  She chose her brother and the seats and the binoculars and she was effing happy about it. 

Enter the Karma Police.

Ok.  So that was longer then intended, but this is really quite a story and must be told.  But before the Radiohead gods shined that night, we had to deal with The Wolf  (at the door).

Here we are, just stepped out of the car- there's the arena in the background:

So in order for Matt and I to get in the venue, we had to meet up with the jerk face ticket scalper at the gate, have him swipe his credit card and get handed the tickets and then give the tickets to us.  He called and we arranged a meeting time.  I chose to believe that he was just a dude around our age that had a million friends say they wanted to go and then bale on him so he had to sell the extra tickets.  That was how I lived with myself for purchasing these tickets (I lived with myself also because I had no other choice.  RH was not touring anywhere near me without me again- that had been established in 2008 and this was the only way I could figure it was going to happen).  Well, my fan with too many tickets was NOT who we met.  We met a over middle aged weasel with a shirt buttoned too far down and quite the obvious racket happening.  We said hi to him and his associates and he gave us the rundown on how this would work:  We take his credit card as if it were ours, walk boldly to the gate, flash a smile, hand over the card, get it swiped, get handed the tickets, and get our wrist bands.  Oh, and if they ask you to show your id, tell them you left it in the car.  Yep.  He actually said all that quietly in Matt's ear and then stood shady-like on the outskirts and watched us walk up there.  Matt even turned around before we approached and look at him, and Matt got a Pez nod in return.  This guy seriously needed a trench coat filled with watches on the inside!  I felt so gross and dirty.  We did as we were told to the two nice old ladies at the gate.  They dutifully swiped the card and then handed us our tickets.  Then we both walked over to the lady with the fist full of arm bands and held out our wrists.  She banded us up and we walked nervously back to Shady McWeaselton, gave him his credit card back and he was gone, quick as a flash.  Matt and I shared a look of incredulity at what had just happened, declared that we felt slimy and that we needed a shower and then BREATHED A HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF!!!  That little transaction was one I had lost sleep over for more then one or two nights.  I worried worried worried that something would go wrong.  I imagined us with failed tickets, calling my sister and telling her that we didn't get into the concert and to come pick us back up.  I imagined how freaking hard I would cry.  I felt bad for that me sometimes, hoping she didn't ever exist.  I'm telling you, it was heavy on my mind quite a few times.  But you know what?  We had actual tickets with our awesome section on them.  We were as good as in.  One more little hurdle:  making sure B's ticket (a paper one with another dude's name on it) worked and got her in.  They wouldn't let those tickets be scanned yet, so we had some time to kill.  We were still hours from concert time, so we wandered around that lame mall again.  Yeah, it was lame.  But we had wrist bands, we had tickets in our pockets.  We were seeing Radiohead soon- who needs a good mall?  We were told they would open the doors at 6:30, so it was a little after that when we said, "should we go?"  No need to bust the door down, we had tickets, we didn't have to get there until the opening band was over if we wanted.  We were too excited for that nonsense, so we made our way back to the venue.  

Back to the gate people, only this time the shady part was over and we could just show our legit tickets and go inside.  This time I greeted an old man.  He took one look at me (or my wristband as it turns out) and told me that the GA gate was over there, in another place.  I said, "I'm not GA" and I showed him my ticket.  He studied it and said, "You're right, well I'm surprised they gave you that" and pointed to my wristband.  I shrugged and walked inside and waited for Matt to finish.  He got in and then we watched B get in with no problem (phew) and then I concentrated on my run in with that old man.  Forgive me, but my wheels were running slow.  I considered the possibility that the venue and that dear, sweet old lady may have put GA colored wristbands on us by mistake.  Nope.  That is crazy dreamland thinking.  This is reality.  Little did I know that Jobing.com arena messed up pretty bad that day.  There was an article about it.   I looked around a little bit looking for other colored wristbands.  Many people had no wristbands at all.  That is when I started allowing myself to actually consider what may have happened.  I decided to let Matt in on what may be happening.  Shocked Matt face.  By then (all of this happened in less then 2 minutes), I was feeling more and more confidant that is what happened.  We discussed it.  We spoke the words of people in shock:  What should we do about this?  Do we go up to our seats or go to the floor?  What should we do??  If we hadn't been in shock, we never would have contemplated our options, we would have flown downstairs so fast it would make Jonny's head spin.   We ACTUALLY discussed going to our seats and ignoring the wristbands.  Of course, we finally got level headed enough to cut through the fog and make some decisions.  I did have one sensible thing holding me back:  It was getting closer to 7 and the venue had been open for a while now and I had reasons to believe that all the good close to the stage spots were long gone and we would have to be far, far back and our seats would be closer and the better option.  There was an easy way to prove or squelch that:  peek inside.  We peeked and what we saw at that moment was nothing short of another gift granted to us by the Radiohead gods:  NOT THAT MANY PEOPLE DOWN THERE.  And not only that:  there was actually less people on Jonny's side of the stage.  It was like one of the RH gods scooped 25 people away from the stage to clear our path.  Yes, you heard me right:  gift number 3.  Shock gone.  This was way too exciting and important for that.  Poor B.  Lamesauce.  But wait-  take our tickets!  You can have a better seat too!  Everyone wins!  We hugged her good bye, gave her the binoculars, and flashed our magical, miracle wristbands and headed down the steps.

We were in!  We both at the same time, unplanned, breached the gap of floor to the front in ballet leaps and jigs.  Back to shock.

 How in the HELL did we get here?? 

 Taking pictures with our phones of our wristbands to send to family and friends, with news of our amazing fortune.

 Are we really standing ON THE FLOOR, amidst other wristbanders, feet from the very stage my musical heroes are going to be standing and singing and playing????  NO BIPPING WAY.  It was then that Matt won himself the first of three long stares he would receive from me that night.  He asked me, "Are you sure that this is where Jonny will be?"  Stare. *crickets chirping*  (My stare said, "AM I SURE?  Seriously?  This girl may not know the square root of 4567, but she knows this.  In all of the times she has seen them on stage (on youtube) never once has she seen Jonny stand and play anywhere since 1993 then to Thom's left.  And this girl knows of which she speaks.")  I think my stare conveyed all these things because he laughed and said no more (for now).  We looked up at B and waved.  She waved back.  We looked at where she WOULD have been sitting if things had gone according to plan.  Yikes!  It was really high up there.  B's new seat was pretty dang good.

 

Now, we just had to stand where we were amidst an ever growing crowd for a few hours until the boys showed up.  (Here is where the last post's explanation of my feeding and sleeping schedule comes into play.)  I had eaten a little at the Thai place, but how much have I drunk in the last couple days?  A few sips here and there.  How much food?  Maybe the equivalent of 2 normal size meals in 4 days.  How much sleep?  Oh, about 7 hours in 3 nights (MAYBE 8 tops).  You see, I wasn't thinking about it much, and after all- I was expecting to chill in a seat.  Instead I was to be forced to stand in the same spot, in a sea of bodies for lets calculate.............roughly 4 1/2 hours.  And around 2 of those are going to be some of the most exciting moments of my life.  But first... 2 1/2 hours of just standing and waiting.

That's me- standing and waiting and thinking thoughts

 I stood there and thought a few thoughts.  One of them was images of the footage you see of The Beatles first trip to America and the state of their fans- screaming out of their minds, crying uncontrollably and also fainting.  I honestly understand that.  Laugh if you want but I thought about those girls and how they felt.  I understood them.  Sidebar: Can I set something straight?  My obsession with Radiohead is not the obsession of how I imagine The Twilight Mom's view Robert Pattinson.  By this I mean in a lusty want to tear his clothes off kind of way.  I hope everyone understands that.  Because when I say I "get" those Beatle's fans, I think I really do.  At some point in my life, I would have seen that footage and thought that is what is in their minds.  Perhaps it was for some.  But actually, I think for the most part, it was just the overwhelming fact that they were in the presence of some individuals that had made such an impact on them, they were overwhelmed with emotion.  Ok, sidebar over- I just don't want anyone to get the wrong idea (including my husband who I think already gets all this).  Radiohead has impacted me.  They are not just a band.  They are THE band.  Using the term "obsessed" admittedly isn't totally out of line here.  They turned my music world totally upside down a long time ago, and seeing them in front of me playing the songs I have played over and over and over through the years and hearing these songs get better and more amazing with each listen, and being close to these amazing men doing the thing they do so well is nothing short of total awesome overload and misunderstanding (and reducing) that emotion into me wanting them physically, cheapens what they mean to me in my life.   So anyway, I stood there understanding those screaming, fainting girls.  I also stood there thinking about a video of a RH concert a week or so before, where the camera shook for a minute and the cameraman's explanation was that a guy fainted next to him and bouncers had to dive in and rescue him.  Some dude actually fainted?  That makes a girl that hasn't taken care of her body the best the last few days worry a little.   But mostly, Matt and I just stared at the stage, each other, the people around us in awe.  How bippin close Jonny's area was.  That is Thom's microphone right there and soon, he is going to SING into it.

This is where we were standing:

And this was a wide angle shot as Matt pointed out, making our pics look further away then we really were.  I only count 7 rows of heads ahead of us (not bad for moseying in late and unexpected and CRASHING THAT PARTY!!!).

We waited a long dang time.  In the meantime though, us and the people around us made use of the fact that we were freak fans that the average citizen doesn't get.  Therefore, it can be lonely to be a RH fan.  You can be seen as pretentious and misunderstood.  But those that get it, get it and we have so much to say with not that many willing ears to hear.  This music has transformed us, it's shaped our lives.  And for just a little while, we are together, at a pinnacle moment in our lives with nothing to do but stand around.  You can make fun of me, but on WASTE central (which is RH's official site, and a sort of social network), I joined the group "Jobing.com Arena" and had been chatting it up with other RH fans going to the same concert.  We have been talking and being excited together and shared song wishlists, etc.  One girl (Meg) was coming from Idaho, and we figured out we were sitting in the same section one row away, so we had plans to meet and hug.  She text me as she was driving up to the arena and I had to break the news of my good fortune and how I would not be up there with her.  As any gracious RH fan should be, she was happy for me.  We hoped to meet up after the show anyway.  She told me to look for the sign she made which turned out to be the Angry Bear logo she had fashioned out of glow sticks.  I couldn't wait to see it- I loved that she did that.  She's hard core.

Matt and I started talking to this guy named Marcus and we ended up talking to him for most of the time.  We told him of our wristband ordeal.  Marcus and I shared with each other our story of getting into the band.  We discussed the orders in which we purchased and discovered each album.  Our first favorite song.......  you know- we were ultra Radiohead nerdy and it felt GREAT dang it!  In fact, in that first pic of Matt and I grinning in the arena, you can see the friend that joined him a bit later and the outline of Marcus (for I am totally blocking him from view).  Throughout the whole show we never strayed too far from Marcus and we would occasionally look at each other and share excited grins (we were pretty packed in there, so the people around us never changed much).  If you look at the view of the stage picture, and notice the man in the white handkerchief, you will see the man Matt and I dubbed "The Cam Guy".  He reminded us a lot of our brother in law (Sue's husband) Cam.  The Cam Guy was spotted right before the show, all of a sudden chomping on a hot dog that seemed to have appeared out of thin air.  A HOT DOG???????  Seriously dude!  Could you have picked a worse choice of food to mow down crammed and surrounded by hot crowded people, right before a music concert?  As Rob said when I told him "Frankly, no".  (get it?)  By the way, the hot dog incident had nothing to do with his nickname- (just trying to clear Cam's good name). 

FINALLY the opening band, Other Lives came on.  This was exciting because something was happening and it was an important step to get us to what we had all come there for.  What we had driven 12 hours in the middle of the night for.  Other Lives were not bad at all.  About 4 songs in though my brain switched off and was unable to think of anything except for the fact that this was really happening and happening soon and happening so much closer then I thought it would mere hours before.  Around that time too was the realization that while they had a good sound, all the songs sounded exactly alike and the lead dude's vocal range was non existent.    But of course, we WERE waiting to hear this dude:

(thanks Matt for showing me that vid long ago- it really came in handy right now.)

I really started wondering about my stamina at this point.  I felt like I might be feeling a little faint.  I kept putting my head down and closing my eyes and massaging my neck.  Doing ok, but worrying more then ever that the excitement would overcome me and I would never make it.  I had worn a long sleeved shirt for heaven's sake.  Again- I thought I'd be nice and cool, elevated a bit and seated in a seat or I never would have opted for that shirt.  Oh well, I was determined not to be "that guy" (remember the one that made the camera shake by fainting).  I carried on.  After about a million monotoned songs (I feel rude- I really liked the band, I did.  I may even look them up in the future) and it wasn't even really a million songs- more like 6.  They finished up and the lights came on again.  Then we found ourselves waiting again.  Man we waited lots.  We waited and waited some more.  

We turned around and took a picture of what was behind us:

 I guess we did get there a bit early- look at all those people standing behind us!  The arena has a seating capacity of 19,000 and we had filled it out quite nicely. 

We waited another 45 minutes, I'd say.  Matt noticed the band's guitars on racks on the side and started counting them.  I don't remember the exact number but it was over 30 in all.  Isn't that insane?  There were sooo many.  It was exciting.  Meg told me she would have her sign out when the band came on stage, so I got my camera out again, ready to take a picture of it for her since she had expressed that she wondered what it looks like from down there (or to Thom, more like).  I thought she would like to see for herself.  

All of a sudden the lights dimmed and the crowd went insane.  I scrambled to take a pic and couldn't get a good shot and missed the actual walking on stage of the band.  Matt started shaking me or something so I took a blind pic while I turned around and there the bip they were.

"I jumped in the river and what did I see?
black-eyed angels swimming with me
a moon full of stars and astral cars
all the figures I used to see
all my lovers were there with me
all my past and futures
and we all went to heaven in a little row boat

  there was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt"

-Pyramid Song   

Speaking of Pyramid Song....................Here's your teaser

Footage taken by ME with my very own camera!!!!!!!!!  

(I love how I move the camera over to Thom, quickly realize he is being boring and go right back to Jonny :)
Would you listen to the crazy haunting sound he makes on that guitar doing that??  I was hypnotized (and in Emily Heaven).  I can't believe I got to watch him do that......................but I need to save this stuff for the next post. :(

To be continued..............................................................