Radiohead.

So it’s been a quiet month for me and it’s about to get a little bit louder.  I’ve been bouncing back and forth getting ready for SXSW this week, but I carved out some time to take road trip to Dallas, Texas to see one of my favorite bands in the world, Radiohead.  I saw them way back when in 2008 in St. Louis and it was time again for me see them live.  Even though the seats weren’t as good, plus I’m a little spoiled by small venues, the show turned out pretty great.  I even made great time back home to Austin.

Yeah the drive was long but the traffic was nowhere in sight.  I heard rumors about Dallas being rough on the ole road rage, but I snuck in there and out in amazing fashion.  I think it might have something to do with going against rush hour traffic.  After I parked by the American Airlines Center, I kicked it with some local fare.  Okay, I hit up the House of Blues first but it wasn’t much and had terrible draft beer selection.  Fortunately, everything was a short distance from each other so me and my lovely lady found secondary places to hang out before the show.

On to the show then!  Walking up to the American Airlines Center was a treat.  I did not expect to see three ginormous screens staring down at me on the way.  It was breathtaking.  Inside, the beer was kind of expensive but the plastic cups held their own against the 24 ounces of Bud-heavy.  The seats were pretty high up, but we were desperate due to the local Austin arena’s epic online ticket fail.  That said, the sound didn’t degrade too much and I was able to capture some decent sound on the Kodak Playsport.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCDZfgnvu48[/youtube]

First up was The Other Lives.  The Oklahoma band has a rare feature:  I have yet to hear of them.  Usually, especially for bands opening for the like of Radiohead, I would know at least a little something about them.  So when they kicked off their set, I got a great first full impression.  They were pretty good.  I can see the obvious similarities between them and Radiohead, but where Radiohead was more electronic and blippy, The Other Lives were more country and western.  They are on my list of bands to check out and I think you should check them out too.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXM-ZAQXQhM[/youtube]

Finally, it was Radiohead’s turn to take the stage.  They opened up with ‘Bloom’ and instantly gave me chills.  I’m usually a preserved fellow when attending concerts anymore, but when that first chord hit I was shaking all over.  It didn’t help that I had some newly licensed kids next to me yucking it up.  I ended up switching seats with my lady, both for the video and for my own sanity.  The last couple of months saw me hit up smaller venues and I admit that I’m spoiled by being around hardcore fans and not just casual observers.  Oh well, it didn’t harsh my Radiohead buzz at all.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsGuqUFWVeQ[/youtube]

So the set continued on the they hit me up with some surprises as well as some favorites I was looking out for.  I didn’t expect them to play 3 unreleased songs, included a never performed together version of “The Amazing Sounds of Orgy.”  It’s all a part of their show anymore.  Thom Yorke also had biggest tease of the year by starting out “Everything In Its Right Place” with a couple of bars of “True Love Waits.”  Geewwww Thom, you are a trickster.  The encores saw some OK Computer era stuff as well jamming out my current favorite ‘Reckoner.’

All in all it was solid set and the Radiohead show was totally worth the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Austin and the lack of sleep due to it.  The Other Lives are a tasty little band and hopefully I’ll get a chance to see them around these parts since their home base is in Oklahoma.  Radiohead, on the other hand, will more than likely finish out this tour and hide away for a couple of more years.  Man, seeing Radiohead is better than seeing Haley’s Comet and we get more chances every couple of years.  Don’t miss out on your chance.