Review by Iwill086:
iapoligize to everyone who didn't see tonight's show at the bowl.
It was the most incredible, spectacular, yadda yadda yadda.
I've been watching the setlists for over a year now seeing whats being played and so on. the setlist tonight was perfect. Everything I couldve wanted. There there was the opener (also as ihad hoped) and Karma Police was the second to last. it was flawless. If ihad died on the ride home, iwouldve died mostly happy.
isay "mostly" because im staring at tickets for tomorrow night.

Review by Dan:
Moments from the show:

a) Thom's reaction to the crowd response after saying they were going to play something from the first album: "I know...I know..."

b) Jonny: Top form throughout. The best he's been in the handfuls of times I've seen Radiohead in concert.

c) Thom imitating the audience by standing rigid with his hands at his sides between spastic stage dancing.

d) Thom mucking the second verse during the Karma Police sing-a-long. Nobody's perfect.

I'll leave the rest to the others.

Review by Dawn:
What a super show! Full of incredible music filling the air in Hollywood last night. Thom was in a happy mood. Jonny was brilliant! The magic he makes with his fingers is awesome. The lights on the stage were colourful and different from past shows I have seen. I feel very lucky to be able to go back tonight and see them again. If you are going tonight, I would get there by 8:30 pm. They took the stage
at 8:50pm.

Review by seteger:
The light show and two vertical screens flanking either side of the stage were a great touch, a real upgrade from the last time they were in town. Thom sang extremely well all evening, notably for "i will," "scatterbrain," "like spinning plates," and "sail to the moon" (which sounded spot on from the album recording, a small miracle to capture live). Jonny's playing was grade-A, as usual--he rocked out for "airbag" and "go to sleep" just brilliantly. I just loved seeing him play guitar while he's hitting keys on the synth for "street spirit."

They played nearly every track off "hail to the thief"--only "we suck young blood" and "wolf at the door" were missing. (You can bet they'll play "we suck young blood" in honor of Los Angeles tomorrow night, though.) For fans of HTTT and ok computer (and who isn't?), it was a nearly perfect setlist.

I did think Jonny's keyboard was mixed too high for a few songs early on--"where i end and you begin" felt immediately drowned out by that high-end warble, and it made the groovy song a bit more chaotic than it should have been (I saw several techies talking anxiously with Jonny shortly after, too, perhaps about the mixing). "backdrifts" right after was similarly chaotic, too loud in the wrong parts to be perfect. This was all balanced out beautifully by the next couple ok computer songs ("airbag" and "paranoid android"), and I bet they have everything ironed out by tomorrow night's show.

Thom made a crack before "myxamatosis" about the California recall election, maybe a nod to the disorderly debate just the night before. He also hummed a few bars of "the star-spangled banner" over Jonny's tuning the radio to lead into "national anthem." He made a comment about "lurgee" almost identical to the comment he made before playing it at Shoreline, something about not playing songs off their first album very often. He introduced "scatterbrain" as "a love song." Ending the first encore with "street spirit," he said something about it being a good song to end with. The line sampled for "everything in its right place" was "can somebody please turn on the lights on the crowd?" or something close to that, perhaps a direct reference to Glastonbury 97. (The lights were not turned on, and he didn't seem to care too much, either way, so that might have been what they were going for).

Thom danced his socks off. He was HOPPING for "myxmatosis," interchanging between a Robert Smith-like wiggle, hands raised, and Mick Jagger-like spasms, face jutting and hands wiggling. He playing the crowd for "idioteque," and grooved away for "punchup at a wedding"--he was extremely active. The setlist really quieted down in the middle-end with a stretch of slower songs (the audience was almost lulled to sleep--lots of people sitting, which feels rare for a radiohead show), but I like how when he sang "i will" solo, and while everybody in the band left stage for a small break, Jonny sat indian style in his little corner to watch Thom sing (Jonny has mentioned liking that song, so I guess that makes sense).

And by the way, Supergrass was really, really good--I don't know their work very well, but man, they rock and really had a good energy, so try to catch them.

Review by Will:
as an usher (white shirt and tie) working at the bowl and a big fan, i was hoping the crowd wouldn't be too out of hand so i could enjoy the show. luckily, it wasn't too bad (thanks!), and i was enable to enjoy the show with few problems. the setlist was filled with HTTT songs, which is just fine with me since they all make perfect live songs. they'll nailed everything perfectly. Highlights were: Myxomatosis, Airbag, Idiotic, National Anthem (especially thom's mimicking of our anthem before the song), and everything during the encores. I can't wait till tomorrow there's nothing better than getting paid to see radiohead. twice.

Review by Cynthia:
"Thank you for coming out tonight." Are you kidding? Can I take Radiohead home with me?! Huh? What a brilliant show. The first of 2 glorious nights at the Hollywood Bowl. The band sounded fantastic, and I felt so lucky to be there. They are incredible live. Hard to believe their arrangements and effects can get more complex and layered, but they can. Ed and Jonny crawling around at the foot of the stage. Colin swaying in time to his bass. Phil in his sharp white suit drumming calmly, then madly, then calmly again. And Thom be-bopping all over the stage, as only he can. Sigh. "I got better, I got strong." Nice to hear an old tune (Lurgee). Exit Music sounded amazing. When did Karma Police become such a sing-along?! Funny. They played most of Hail to the Thief and each song sounded great. The lighting was so beautiful and complimented each song very well. Sail to the Moon was lovely outside, and I thanked the stars above when Thom sat down at the piano to play Like Spinning Plates. And his solo guitar accompaniment to I Will was excellent. It was neat to watch Jonny sitting on stage, watching Thom, during that song. Did I mention how fantastic the lighting was? Very original and set the mood for each song nicely. There were some flickering orange lights behind the drums towards the end of the show, and I thought Jonny had set one of his amps aflame. Could happen, you know. He's a genius musician. As are all 5 of them. Thank You, Radiohead

Review by Mike:
So, last night I arrived at the Hollywood Bowl around 5:30ish, and as my shuttle bus from the Los Angeles Zoo parking lot arrived, I was in awe as the first image to catch my eye was the marquee that displayed the words "RADIOHEAD...SOLD OUT!" Just seeing those plastic letters began to make my excitement build. When we first went inside, we watched Supergrass open, and they were good and all, but I was uneasy, because it was Radiohead that I wanted to see. So after they finished their set, I counted the minutes as the tech set up the remaining equipment before the band took the stage. Time passed, probably around 15 minutes or so (I might be wrong...hah.) and then the lights dropped and the first few trickles of "Where Blue Birds Fly" started up. Soon after, they broke into the hypnotic drumbeats of "There There," which they played to perfection.

The whole night, the band carried out numerous classics. Each note was carried through Thom's voice, and Jonny, like usual thrashed his guitar. While Ed, grooved, Colin did his pigeon-like head bob, and Phil, though in back, danced behind his set. Highlights, I felt where the performances of "There There," "I Will," "The Gloaming," "Karma Police (Thom mixed up the lyrics, having a small giggle..."Karma Police, Arreee...I've given all I can...")," "Sit Down. Stand Up.," and "Everthing In Its Right Place." These songs, I felt stood out exceptionally to last night's performance and were very well done, especially "I Will." Looking back now, I don't think I can remember any mistakes made during their performance. Other good things about the show were Thom's elvish-indian dance routines, and Jonny's instrument abuse all throughout the night. As the show came to an end, I was satisfied with what I had seen, but still wanted more.

So, as I sit writing this, a few hours before tonight's show, I wonder how it'll go, and if there will be dramatic changes in set. Well, we'll just see as 9 o' clock rolls around, and the first few notes expel from the amplifiers. I can't wait!!!

Review by unplugged: the show was fantastic, I was in the photo pit for the first 5 or so songs, watching 2+2=5 and There There up close was amazing, then watched the rest from the pit. Jonny rocked out as usual on Paranoid Android et the end of Go To Sleep. Thom was flailing around like a monkey and had a huge grin. He mimicked the audience, who weren't really into it, by standing rigid inbetween dancing.

They introduced Lurgee the same way from Shoreline, it got some cheers because people thought it was going to be Creep, but oh well, too bad for them. cheers to anyone who went
-unplugged

Review by Tomas B: I'm an enormous Radiohead fan, last night was one of the most enjoyable concert experiences I've ever had, we had mediocre seats, because most anything beyond the boxes at the Hollywood Bowl aren't that great... That being said, what a great setlist!...

Airbag and Paranoid Android in succession, A+...!

Idioteque and The National Anthem, YUM...!

Lucky and Street Spirit, User Friendly...!

I really wanted to hear No Surprises, but what the hell, you can't have it all... For my first Radiohead show ever, this was really more than I could've asked for...

Now if they'd only play Planet Telex, My Irong Lung, and Climbing Up The Walls at San Diego Sunday Night, I'll be fully sated... Tomas B.

Review by Mahntoh: Expectations were flying high for the first night of the Hollywood Bowl, as I had already witnessed the greatness of the Shoreline performance, especially with the HTTT songs. Knowing that parking spaces were limited, I arrived at the Hollywood Bowl as early as I could but traffic was horrendous. There were already a lot of people waiting by the main entrance, and the KROQ van was already set up giving out various radio related swag. The famous Capitol HTTT van was parked very close by and for those who have not seen it, go check it out at a venue near you!

Radiohead came on about the same time as the Shoreline show, and my first reaction was that it was going to be a quite different set. This was confirmed when the techies brought out the two snare-like drums (one for Ed and one for Johnny) which was an instant giveaway for "There There" being the first song. "When Bluebirds Fly" intro blasted out of the PA in full force, sending the crowd into a frenzy even before the band members came out. Now I know how the attendees of the European 2002 shows felt when they had heard this!

I don't remember much details but overall the performance was tight as usual and it was great being able to hear songs that they did not play at Shoreline. This included the new album songs, including the somewhat rarely played "I Will". One of the highlights for me was hearing Myxomatosislive. This is like the new album's version of National Anthem...very powerful, energetic, and Thom's vocals were prime, sharp, and "biting" (you have to hear this live to know what I mean...words don't describe it accurately). I really enjoyed the OK Computer themed set, with 5 songs, including the big treat "Exit Music". Unfortunately quite a few idiots in the audience felt it was necessary to cheer and yell/shout during the quiet parts, and the worst part was one guy near me who also thought it was cute to shout "I love you Thom!" during "I Will". Somebody arrest this man please!

Songs that I didn't like very much initially are really starting to grow on me live everytime I hear them (The Gloaming and Backdrifts being solid examples). Hearing Lurgee again was quite a surprise (no longer the only gem for Shoreline); the band probably feels comfortable playing this one again. Note that this song pre-dates the Pablo Honey album as it was on their Creep EP back in the heyday.

I was surprised to hear Street Spirit played for night 1. Perhaps it is no longer reserved for "special 2nd nights", and the band now plays it when they feel like it. It was introduced to the effect of "this song has got good vibes", much like in some 1998 shows, Hollywood Bowl 2001, and the Greek Theater in 2000. I definitely see a pattern here (along with Exit Music).

Tonight was definitely more interesting, despite a few moments of unruly crowds during the nice quiet songs. So with a nice variety of songs from set 1, heavily themed in HTTT and OKC songs, how would the band top that for night 2? Excitement was in the air and indeed we were promised more and then some the next night! But that is a separate review... :-)

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