All Points West | Radiohead, night 1 wrap

radiohead

The first night of the New York area's now premiere multi-day music festival came to a close with a rousing set by Oxford, England's favorite sons Radiohead. Known to reinvent their set lists night to night, the band stuck with safe choices from their repertoire (there were no surprises, pun intended) though they opted for a set heavy on their brooding, slower tempo tunes, including "How to Disappear Completely," "Pyramid Song," and "You and Whose Army?" In the same vein, it would've been nice to hear "Exit Music (for a Film)" as the setting and mood both seemed a perfect fit for the song.

The new album In Rainbows was showcased as expected, though tonight's performances of the new songs definitely felt less spontaneous (or more polished, but not in a bad way) than the summer 2006 tour when the material was first road-tested. Based on tonight's setlist, one can likely expect tomorrow's show to feature some of the more crowd-friendly tunes including "Karma Police," "Fake Plastic Trees," and "The National Anthem." Don't cross your fingers, though, because Radiohead is always unpredictable with their song choices and that's one of the best reasons to go see them live. Me, I'll be waiting for "Talk Show Host" with a gun and a pack of sandwiches.

For anything you could ever want to know about Radiohead, check out At Ease.

Final setlist was as follows:

15 Step
There There
Morning Bell
All I Need
Lucky
Nude
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
The Gloaming
Optimistic
Videotape
Reckoner
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
You and Whose Army?
Idioteque
Climbing Up the Walls
Bodysnatchers
How to Disappear Completely
House of Cards
Pyramid Song
Paranoid Android
Dollars and Cents
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Cymbal Rush
Just
Everything in Its Right Place (dedicated to Underworld; Thom says "See you on the boat.")