We filed it under rumours the other day, but now there’s no denying anymore. We’ve got a photo and video (below) of Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke rehearsing ’15 Step’ with US Marching Band for tomorrow’s Grammy Awards ceremony.
The Los Angeles Times report on Thom Yorke dancing a little jig in the aisles as USC’s Spirit of Troy warmed up with the Fleetwood Mac hit “Tusk.” The crew of the show is hard to impress, but by the third take it was all eyes on the stage as Yorke gave an animated interpretation of the song, one that somehow sounds both cerebral and tribal.
“Can you make my voice sound a little bit less shiny,” Yorke asked the sound team. “Take the top off — I like the idea of belting it out with these guys.” Afterward, Jonny Greenwood said the marching band was an idea that he and Thom Yorke brought with them to L.A. “It’s something we’ve been wanting to do with this song for a long time,” he said.
He also said he was a bit dazed by the Grammys and its big tent, which has room for the band as well as the Jonas Brothers and Lil Wayne. “We never encounter any of these worlds,” Greenwood said. “There’s a surreality to it all.”
Radiohead Rehearsal for the Grammys from Kara on Vimeo.
Entertainment Weekly report on the Grammy rehearsals as well, with slightly different quotes… At 9 a.m. they did a rough run-through with crew and directors clustered on stage, after which Yorke politely asked, “Can you make my voice sound a little less shiny? I like the idea that I’ve got to belt it out over these guys, you see.” Between takes, he beatboxed a bit into the mic; the band kids sat on the risers and mostly just grinned in disbelief. Yorke wandered down to the lip of the orchestra pit and asked a nearby stage manager, “Is it okay if I stand here?” Sure, said the guy, “but just so you know” — he gestured to the floor beneath Thom’s feet — “this is a wall that comes out of the ground.” Thom took a step back. “All right! Here we go! Standby!” said another stage manager, and the wall did indeed come up. The band members stirred with excitement. A stand-in who was not Gwyneth Paltrow began reading the intro off the teleprompter, and by the time she got to “Nominated tonight for Album of the Year…” the wall had lowered again to reveal Thom making a my-head-is-exploding gesture to Jonny, I assume because even Thom Yorke still gets jazzed about the Grammys. And then a snare drummer in the front row counted things off, the bass players raised their sticks, and the awesomeness began.
Radiohead news on this day..
- Phil Selway to perform at Oxford Charity tonight – 2011
- Radiohead’s New Album Update – 2010
- Thom Yorke guests on new Flying Lotus album – 2010
- Phil Selway announces solo tour – 2010
- Mark Ronson to release ‘Just’ on single – 2008
- New photos on ‘Dead Air Space’ – 2007
- Paranoid Android main theme in anime ‘Ergo Proxy’ – 2006
- Radiohead.com update – 2005
- Pitchfork: ‘Kid A best album of this decade’ – 2005
- Jonny Greenwood interview with Billboard – 2004
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