Show will be broadcast on MTV2 on June 17th. Thanks to Matthew for the setlist.

Review By Glenn Gamboa for Newsday.com
Radiohead No. 1 on Dial
At Beacon, Brit band proves it's rock's current champion
Radiohead is the world's best band.

Sure, that's a fluid title - one that floats among a handful of rock and roll contenders. Until now, it's a distinction that Radiohead never seemed to want, content, instead, to experiment and head off in its own direction.

At the MTV2 "$2 Bill Concert," however, it's clear something has changed. With this amazing two- hour show and its powerful upcoming "Hail to the Thief" album (EMI/Capitol), Radiohead has thrown down the gauntlet. Singer/guitarist Thom Yorke and his collaborators - guitarists Ed O'Brien and Jonny Greenwood, brother Colin Greenwood, the bassist, and drummer Phil Selway - are now the ones to beat, and they are willing to work to keep it that way.

For several songs, Yorke would even run to the edge of the stage, waving his arms trying to get the crowd to cheer louder. He would dance around like a spastic disco king possessed. At the end of the main set, the fitting "Everything in Its Right Place," Yorke stood off to the side, soaking in the moment, clearly enjoying what had been created.

Though "Hail to the Thief" doesn't hit stores until Tuesday, that didn't stop the Radiohead faithful from singing along. It also didn't stop the band from showing off improved versions of the songs, building on its most straightforward, listener-friendly tracks since the great "OK Computer."

The changes were evident from the beginning, as the subtle current single "There There" became a percussion-driven track, with Jonny Greenwood, O'Brien and Selway all pounding on drumsets. The powerful "2+2=5" followed, with Yorke beginning his trademark twitch as he offered his most impassioned vocals, urgently chanting, "Pay attention! Pay attention!" on a song about questioning authority.

Radiohead is clearly excited about the new material, as when O'Brien and Jonny Greenwood sat on the stage twiddling knobs, gleefully building soundscapes for the reggae-tinged "Backdrifts." smiling like kids ripping open their Christmas presents.

"It's a joyous occasion," said Yorke, as he introduced the title track from "Kid A." "This next song has lots of joy in it. Yes it does, forsooth." He then proceeded to further shed Radiohead's stodgy reputation with loads of carefree, twitchy dancing.

The band's exquisite, pained anthems still made up the bulk of the set, though new guitar work spruced up "Fake Plastic Trees," and Yorke's sly delivery of "Karma Police," especially the chorus of "This is what you get when you mess with us," makes it a better fit with the more political nature of "Hail to the Thief."

It was all part of the new sense of joy infused in the band's set. Maybe that's been the missing ingredient in the Radiohead arsenal, in its assault on rock's hierarchy. Or maybe that simply comes when you know you have reached the top of your field.

Review by KELEFA SANNEH for NY Times

Proceed With Caution. Slippery When Heard.
ots of bands write songs that grow on you, but Radiohead seems more interested in songs that shrink. Its new album, "Hail to the Thief" (Capitol), is full of restless compositions that turn over and over, becoming more elusive with each change. The longer you listen, the less familiar they seem.

On Thursday night the band played a two-hour concert at the Beacon Theater for fans who were either well-connected enough to get free tickets or rabid enough to spend hours or days in line, waiting for one of the fluorescent wristbands that guaranteed admission. (The concert was sponsored by MTV2, which plans to broadcast it on June 17.)

Years ago Radiohead decided that it would rather be interesting than exciting, and so the night unfolded slowly and engrossingly, like a long, weird chemical reaction. A forest of wristbands sprang up after every song, although it sometimes seemed there was more energy in these applause breaks than in the music itself. "Hail to the Thief" won't be released until Tuesday, but the fans seemed to know all the new songs as well as the old ones, perhaps because an unfinished bootleg version has been circulating online for months. There was a cheer when Thom Yorke announced "Scatterbrain (As Dead as Leaves)," and Mr. Yorke responded with a bit of pantomime: he pointed to his head as he moaned "Scatterbrain," and then walked to the edge of the stage and squinted down at the audience, looking very much like a frightened zoo animal.

Mr. Yorke's voice is the band's most important instrument, and his lyrics have given the group its reputation for queasy paranoia. And since a Radiohead concert doesn't offer much to look at besides gangly Britons bent over their instruments, Mr. Yorke's twitchy, Hobbitty dance moves were invaluable. (Elijah Wood, star of the "Lord of the Rings" films, was watching from the balcony and seemed to approve.)

But Mr. Yorke has another role: he's the rhythm section, too. The drummer, Phil Selway, gave nearly every song a mild, shuffling beat that rarely quickened and never stiffened, so it was up to Mr. Yorke to set the pace, shaking his head or tapping his heel or strumming a guitar or fidgeting in rhythm. For songs that required more heft, Mr. Selway was joined or replaced by a drum machine. It was hard to tell what he thought of this humiliating arrangement.

The rest of the group mainly embellished the songs by adding tangled melodic lines and unexpected textures. Jonny Greenwood's broken chords helped the dreamy ballad "Sail to the Moon (Brush the Cobwebs Out of the Sky)" float spaceward, although Ed O'Brien's out-of-tune backing vocals brought the next song, "Sit Down. Stand Up. (Snakes & Ladders)," crashing down to earth. During this second song, Colin Greenwood bounced on his toes like a boxer, preparing to play a hurtling bass line that arrived just when the song seemed ready to wind down.

Later in the night, the band dusted off older songs. It was a pleasant shock to hear "Paranoid Android," an old-fashioned rock epic full of the kind of hard-charging guitar lines and sing-along choruses that Radiohead has mainly abandoned. And on "Kid A," Mr. Yorke spread his arms and enunciated lyrics that are electronically disfigured on the recording: "We've got heads on sticks/And you've got ventriloquists," he sang.

There were three encores, and for the last one, the band's singer, lyricist, guitarist, dancer and rhythm section emerged — it was time for a solo performance from Mr. Yorke. Singing with his band all night long, Mr. Yorke had been impressive; now, without them, he was astonishing. He strummed an angular groove on his acoustic guitar and sang a love song, "True Love Waits."

After two hours of indirection, it was a riveting dose of passion and courage and sentiment. The song began with a breathtaking pickup line: "I'd drown my beliefs to have your babies." In the chorus Mr. Yorke's voice climbed as he sang, "And true love waits in haunted attics/And true love lives on lollipops and crisps," and for perhaps the first time all night, he didn't sound scared.


MTV Review

In intimate setting, Radiohead sizzles and soars

NEW YORK — As Thom Yorke strummed the beginning of Radiohead's current single, "There There," on a sunburst hollow-body Thursday night, guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien banged tribal beats on tom-tom drums.

Yorke moaned, "Just 'cause you feel it doesn't mean it's there," and the crowd reacted with loud cheers, feeling the pathos and intensity Radiohead have engendered since their inception. After a two-year hiatus, it was clear: The band that makes most English rock seem pale and pasty by comparison was back at full force.

The singer flopped his head from side to side while bassist Colin Greenwood stood rooted in place at the back of the stage, bobbing his head to the beat. Four minutes into the song, Jonny dropped his sticks, donned a guitar and plucked an angular, minor-key arpeggio as the song increased in intensity.

"There There" set a dramatic tone for the two-hour show — the band's first in North America in almost two years — which featured a range of electronic-filled, noisy guitar-based and melodic pop songs that spanned the past 13 years of Radiohead's recording career.

Throughout the show, the bandmembers demonstrated how versatile they've become as musicians, playing a variety of tones and textures that ranged from clattery and dissonant to beautifully atmospheric. As adept and integral as they were on their primary instruments, everyone except drummer Phil Selway took breaks to play pianos, keyboards, samples and other electronic gizmos strewn around the stage.

During the haunting "Climbing up the Walls," Jonny manipulated buttons on a noise box, clutching the instrument to his chest like a kid with his favorite toy, and for a dread-fueled "Everything in its Right Place," Jonny and Ed dropped to their knees to create otherworldly sounds on rows of effect pedals.

When he wasn't strumming a guitar or caressing a piano, Yorke was alone with the microphone, and while he showed off his perfected bobble-head move when he sang, during instrumental breaks he broke into a few goofy and demented dances that made him look like a cross between Martin Short's nerdy Ed Grimley character and Spike Jonze.

For the skittering beats of "Kid A," Yorke flapped his arms, then raised them above his head and wiggled them asymmetrically. On "Backdrifts" he spun around in circles like the Tasmanian Devil on his way to a piano at the back of the stage, and in "Idioteque" he pranced and wriggled like a manic chicken.

Radiohead played nine songs from their new album, Hail to the Thief, but paced them so they didn't interrupt the flow of hits. One hot spot was album opener "2+2=5," a majestic number with skewed guitars that features the cynical and cryptic lyric "Are you such a dreamer to put the world to rights?/ I'll stay home forever where two and two always make a five." Other memorable moments included the jangly, insistent "Go to Sleep" and the drifty "Sail to the Moon," which echoed with an ominous beauty reminiscent of something from Angelo Badalamenti's "Twin Peaks" soundtrack.

Of the new material, the crowd reacted most strongly to "Go to Sleep," which could have been an outtake from The Bends, but the highlight of the night was "Sit Down, Stand Up," which started with a baleful melody in which Yorke moaned, "Walk into the jaws of hell," and peaked as O'Brien left the side of the stage, clutched a microphone and joined Yorke for the frenetic, climactic repeated chant of "Oh, the rain drops" as Yorke jogged in place.

As exhilarating as moments like these were, reflective new songs like "Punch up at a Wedding" and "Scatterbrain" momentarily sapped the crowd's energy level until the band bounced back with a more energized track.

There were no surprises when Radiohead launched into the xylophone-embellished track "No Surprises," but it was refreshing to see Yorke at a piano singing Neil Young's pensive "After the Gold Rush" as a lead-in to "Everything in Its Right Place." And it was exhilarating to see Radiohead play "Kid A" and "Fake Plastic Trees," songs that haven't been part of their recent repertoire. The latter proved conclusively where bands like Coldplay and Starsailor learned their chops.

The first of three encores began with "I Might Be Wrong," which sounded a little messy, but the band quickly recovered with Hail to the Thief's "The Gloaming," in which Jonny lifted the lid of a laptop computer and created crazy sounds through the art of typing.

A couple of songs later it was time for encore number two and "Karma Police," which Yorke dedicated to "people ruining their lives through seriously bad karma," followed by "Lucky," which began with O'Brien creating eerie sounds by strumming his strings at the headstock. After the song ended, the band exited and retired backstage. But it wasn't quite time to rest for Yorke, who returned for the solo acoustic "True Love Waits."


Review By Tom Kielty, Boston Globe Correspondent, 6/7/2003

NEW YORK -- It takes a pretty big event to captivate this city. But all of Gotham was abuzz as Radiohead arrived for a rare performance at the Beacon Theatre on Thursday night. In its first US appearance since 2001, the English quintet pulled out a dynamic two-hour set that showcased its forthcoming CD, ''Hail to the Thief'' (out on Tuesday) and revisited one of modern rock's most impressive catalogs.

The concert, part of MTV2's ''2$Bill'' series, is scheduled to air in abbreviated form on MTV2 beginning June 17, and the sweeping cameras and intimacy of the venue (its capacity is about 3,200) lent the proceedings an air of crackling excitement. When the band hit the stage it wasted little time in reaffirming its status as one of rock's most innovative and vital acts.

As guitarists Ed O'Brien and Jonny Greenwood feverishly pounded out percussion on small drum kits, singer Thom Yorke strode confidently to the microphone and launched himself into ''There There,'' the first single from the new CD. Greenwood's bass-playing brother Colin bounced in anticipation beside drummer Phil Selway, and when Jonny Greenwood abandoned the drums and dove in on guitar the song's menacing undercurrent exploded into a barn-burning rocker.

The band then moved into ''2+2=5,'' the second of nine songs from ''Thief'' to be trotted out. Surely as a result of all the illegally downloaded copies of the song, those in attendance sang along. As Yorke worked himself into a fury, Jonny Greenwood traded licks with O'Brien and began asserting himself. If Yorke is the band's mercurial face, Jonny Greenwood is its heart, pumping life into everything. He moved from guitar to keyboards to sampler to xylophone with an enthusiastic ease.

Yorke was in fine spirits, smiling and cajoling one moment while seeming to plead for audience involvement the next. The show's pacing was excellent, taking flight with the dubby chill of ''Where I End and You Begin'' as the singer repeatedly warned, ''I will eat you alive.'' ''Paranoid Android'' followed, with the song's first signature hook played by Yorke on acoustic before Jonny Greenwood's electric delivery reemphasized the point.

The ambient thrill of ''Idiot-eque'' was next, and despite the absence of guitars, the song soared. Yorke paced the lip of the stage, finally unleashing himself into a spinning dance to the song's chest-thumping beats.

It is comforting to know that Radiohead has never stoppedpushing in new directions. It seemed fitting Yorke would end the show, a seamless mix of technological bravado and guitar heroics. Alone onstage with an acoustic guitar, he delivered a lovely reading of ''True Love Waits'' before smiling and departing.

Review by Will Fleming:

Had the pleasure of experiencing the work of art that was Radiohead at the Beacon Theatre last night, 11th row, center. What can I say? It was a very moving, very psychological and emotional experience. The "There There" opening with Jonny and Ed on drums was explosive, followed by an even more heavily charged "2 + 2 = 5." Thom's voice on "Scatterbrain" was angelic, as it was on "Sail to the Moon," "Fake Plastic Trees," and "No Surprises." Dare I say his voice just keeps getting better with each passing year? "Morning Bell" was flawless, and "Climbing Up the Walls" was unlike any live version I've ever heard. "Backdrifts," "The Gloaming," and "Kid A" all skittered, churned and pulsed around the Beacon, permeating those untapped little corners of our brains, and Thom's voice and brooding guitar coupled with Jonny's billowing sound effects on "Talk Show Host" were bewildering. Following a very animated and energized "Idioteque," Thom tipped his hat to Neil Young with the first verse of "After the Gold Rush," which then led into a swirling "Everything in its Right Place." Jonny's piano work in "Paranoid Android" was brilliant, and throughout the night his guitar work was mind-numbing, particularly in the "Lucky" encore, lifting us to places most of us have probably never quite been before. At the close of the night, some of us held back the tears while others let them roll as Thom strummed away and belted out "True Love Waits," playing his voice like a finely tuned instrument.

Thank you, Radiohead, and thank you, Chris, for making it happen.

review by LIAMADEE

I got there at 1:30 to wait on line. My ticket number was 330. The show started at about 8:55 pm. Where Bluebirds Fly came on, and the beat was especially good with such a loud bass, and with so much anticipation. About 40 seconds later, the band came on, and went right into there there. From my spot in the third row, right in front of ed, i had a great view. Ed looked incredibly badass playing the tribal beat on the drums. The song was great. 2+2=5 was also really good, especially the end, with only a slight drum snafu before the song began. The national anthem was amazing. Morning Bell was also amazing. Scatterbrain i found slightly boring. Kid A was wonderful, with Thom introducing the song as a happy song.... he danced a lot, really happily as he nonchalantly sang and played his little keyboard. Go to Sleep was very good, but especially at the end, when Jonny broke into an outrageous solo. Climbing up the walls was done very very well. Backdrifts was ok. Sail to the moon was utterly beautiful. Sit Down Stand Up was great, the band played it tightly. No suprises was slightly boring, with the crowd going nuts when Thom said the they dont, they dont speak for us line (about the government). Talk Show Host was one of the highlights of the night.... the drumming was spot on, and it was just amazing. Where i end and you begin was very good, especially at the end. Paranoid Android was highlight number two. The lighting was great, and the whole band, especially ed, was really into it. Idiotheque was tied for best song of the night (with everything in its right place and true love waits). It was so increedible. The whole crowd was absolutely mental.It was unlike anything ive ever seen, everyone in the audience went completely berserk, dancing madly. Then, comes the after the gold rush prelude to everything in its right place, which was a once in a lifetime experience... Everything in its right place was right there wtih Idiotheque... it is so beautiful and electronic... I might be wrong was very good, the gloaming was actually very good, even though i dont like the album version much. Very good live. Punch up at a wedding was sort of boring. Fake plastic trees was good. Karma Police was preluded by a sly reference about the bad karma of the american government. It was good. Lucky was a nice way for the band to exit. True love waits was absolutely beautiful. All in all, it was a great, life changing, ethereal night, beyond anything we as humans can understand....the sound was amazing.... thom was in great spirits, the end.

Review by Anthony:
It was one of, if not the best show i've ever witnessed. first, because it was such a small theater and beautiful, with ornate decorations and a huge chandalier. the show began with "there, there", as Jonny Greenwood, O'Brien and Selway all pounded away at the primal percussive beat that dominates the song. it was a great opener and was the first of many new "hail to the theif" tracks that most of the audience had already memorized due to the album being available for weeks on the internet.

2+2=5 and many other electronica and sonic jazz laced tracks followed. its amazing how well they can recreate such discordant and spontaneously beautiful rhythms, disjointed and still oddly melodic in a live setting without the net and editing a studio allows. radiohead in some ways is like the only living breathing example of a band that bases much of its recent discography on blips and bleeps meshed with more traditional instruments that can still put on a show like a real rock and roll band. they have swagger without seeming snobbish, playful without coming off goofy. at various times during the show O'Brien, Jonny and Thom were talking to people in the first few rows, joking and generally seeming to have a great time.

Thom even came out onto the floor at the end of the first set, where nobody noticed him until i walked over and shook his hand, at which point security shuttled him back inside. highlights of the night were Morning Bell and Idiot-eque which whipped the crowd into a frenzy and Sit Down, Stand Up which builds to its climax with the frantic ending getting faster and faster. No Surprises and Fake Plastic Trees sent shivers down my spine. they performed THREE encores, the last of which was a real treat with Thom performing "True Love Waits" all alone on an acoustic guitar.

All in all it was a magical night, one that i still daydream about.

-Anthony De Rosa