fak3r

We saw Radiohead last night, and they did not disappoint.  My wife and I weren’t looking forward to the venue, a big shed and lawn ‘pavilion’ that everyone has now, but in the end it turned out to be a great night, with the location not being bad at all. We last saw Radiohead at the same venue twelve years ago during their tour for The Bends, but it wasn’t until just after that with the release of OK Computer that I went completely ga-ga for them for life.  They had a huge chunk of material to choose from, and the show was amazing. After two nice numbers from their recent release, they broke out Airbag and the place went nuts. All the energy seemingly projected via the light show, which was really cool (don’t think I’ve ever said that). And look, I have to say this again and again, but dammit, Johnny Greenwood is so amazing, his composition, the sounds he gets from his guitar, and that shredding sound that he rips from it…outstanding-freaking-standing. Of course he saved the best for last with Paranoid Android coming alive to close the show. I was happy to see the variety of concert goers, considering most were likely getting out of diapers when OK computer came out! The fact that this band has that much pull across a a swath of fans like that without radio play gives me hope for the future.  A great writeup of the show on RFT, be sure to follow their link to their well done slideshow of pictures (it’s where I got the one above). Now to find a soundboard or matrix sourced recording somewhere and we’ll be all set. Full set list after the jump.

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Last night at Dinner, my son, soon to be 5, let it be known that his favorite They Might Be Giants album is Flood.  My kids got into TMBG after we got them the band’s first kids cd, NO!, followed by the amazing Here Come The ABCs on both cd and DVD (*highly* recommended if you have kids).  A greatest hits compilation, A User’s Guide… rounds out the bunch which gives them a wider swath of material to judge TMBG, who now perform family shows, as well as the traditional 21 and over shows, while on tour.  Of couse his mention of Flood being his favorite only reminded me that I still need to burn him a copy of Lincoln, and also about the time I bought their first release, They Might Be Giants (pictured) on vinyl in 1986. At the time it was only available on vinyl, so I had to go to a friend’s house who had his parent’s stereo setup with a good turntable so I could tape it, and then play it in my car. Yeah, that’s funny, both in how long ago it was, and that I remember all of it.  As I’ve mentioned before, I love music, and even the act of visiting a music store is some religious experince for me, there’s no telling what will happen that I’ll be retelling some 20 years later…

Carrie Brownstein (former Sleater-Kinney guitarist) now has a great blog on NPR called Monitor Mix.  A recent post talked about her learning what bands were important to her father over the years, and it leads to a question I’ve always wondered, what music that is important to us be as important for our kids when they grow up?  In other words, what will make the jump.  I posted a comment, and the submission form wouldn’t let me post it!  I’ll try again later, but for now I’ve put it here.  What bands are important to you, or were growing up, that you can see making the jump to the next generation? (more…)