Radiohead kicked off their first show on the North American tour at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, Philadelphia tonight. This is the first of two nights at the Tower Theatre, where the band kicked off at 21:00 hrs.

Radiohead debuted 'Kid A' on their 2006 tour. Just before Arpeggi Thom said "Anyone fancy dying on their feet tonight". Support by Willy Mason.

Email your reviews, photos etc to reviews@ateaseweb.com with 'Philadelphia 1' in the subject line.

Review by: Jon Shapiro

This being my first Radiohead show ever, you must understand that every aspect of this concert blew me away. They opened with You And Whose Army which featured Thom making funny faces into the camera mounted on his piano. Early in the set Ed and Colin were complaining about sound issues... but they seemed to get sorted out eventually. On the audience side of the stage, the sound was impeccable.

The crowd was rather courteous. A few fans in my section shushed a bunch of jerks who were screaming during the opening section of Exit Music. Sadly, the orgasmic crescendo of said song was slightly diminished due to a lighting malfunction. By the time the song climaxed the lights had been completely shut off.

One unusual highlight was the technical difficulties preceding Arpeggi. Thom's guitar wasn't making and sound and the boys showed off their entertaining stage banter. Thom said something to the effect of, "I'd tell you a joke but I'm not funny." Ironically this remark received a good number of laughs. Ed then chimed in that Colin knew a joke, and despite our encouragement, Colin shyed away from the mic.

During Everything In Its Right Place, the screens read, "AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER etc."

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the whole show, the highlights for me were certainly the Kid A/Amnesiac tracks. Experiencing them live was a great experience. As you're being bombarded by some of the most bizarre sounds you've ever heard, you can't help but ask yourself, "what planet am I on again?"

Review by Jim:

Incredible venue. Small theater on the outskirts of Philly. We caught Salt Lake, LA, San Diego, and Coachella the last go-around. It was nice to see the boys back in the states. This show was NOTHING like those. Lots of new stuff, which is proving to be incredible. Its nice to not have everyone screaming lyrics at the top of their lungs... but it wont last long because 15 step, arpeggi, nude, bodysnatchers, and bangers and the like are definitely here to stay.

spooks --> idio --> bangers --> there there = asskicker

see you at MSG

Jim

Review by tereniak:

The first show at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia kicked off with an unusual selection: "You and Whose Army." I figured "Everything in Its Right Place" or "2+2=5" would be first; they appeared later. Five out of the first nine songs have not yet appeared on an album. Radiohead did a good job with these numbers.

Thom was hard to hear from the first balcony. Especially on "Idioteque," the various synth noises were too loud. Also, the band was not sure of itself in "Pyramid Song." I'm not certain, but it seemed that the last chord before the bottom was played a measure too early in the first half or so of the song. Toward the end, the band fixed itself.

Thom was really dancing around tonight. It was amusing when he picked up the drums in one of the new songs. The show got stronger as it went on, and the seven songs from "There There" to the end ("Karma Police") were excellent.

I would rate the show a 4 out of 5. The middle was lagging at times, and "Black Star" and/or "Paranoid Android" in place of a couple of the unfamiliar tunes would have been nice, but it was still terrific.

The first show at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia kicked off with an unusual selection: "You and Whose Army." I figured "Everything in Its Right Place" or "2+2=5" would be first; they appeared later. Five out of the first nine songs have not yet appeared on an album. Radiohead did a good job with these numbers.

Thom was hard to hear from the first balcony. Especially on "Idioteque," the various synth noises were too loud. Also, the band was not sure of itself in "Pyramid Song." I'm not certain, but it seemed that the last chord before the bottom was played a measure too early in the first half or so of the song. Toward the end, the band fixed itself.

Thom was really dancing around tonight. It was amusing when he picked up the drums in one of the new songs. The show got stronger as it went on, and the seven songs from "There There" to the end ("Karma Police") were excellent.

I would rate the show a 4 out of 5. The middle was lagging at times, and "Black Star" and/or "Paranoid Android" in place of a couple of the unfamiliar tunes would have been nice, but it was still terrific.

Photo by Terri:

Review by Evan:


definitely the best night of my life so far.
 
i was in the third row of the pit thanks to w.a.s.t.e tickets.
during bodysnatchers thom stared at me for a few seconds... i think the fact that i was singing along to a song (and knew all the words) debuted a few weeks ago distressed him a little
colin kept motioning to graham (sound guy) in the beginning, he looked genuinely PISSED OFF. and then later he looked really excited and happy... weird.
phil was incredibly into his drumming tonight, his facial expressions were the most concentrated i've ever seen from him.
jonny seemed about the same as always; during karma police there was something wrong with his monitor (graham again! myspace dolt ); the tech with the guaged ears and ponytail (is that plank?) looked as pissed as colin had at how bad the sound was.
thom was really energetic and in great spirits tonight, definitely not going through the motions. at the beginning of exit music some girls screamed, he made a funny face at them, and they screamed again. he seemed to be playing to the audience the whole time. when his tele deluxe's output levels were messed up before arpeggi (other than the whole "colin tell a joke" thing), he actually walked over to the amp and tried singing into the mic that was on it.
ed seemed to be in a great mood as well, he kept making funny faces (especially during bangers and mash) and doing rockstar poses. he was really on for no surprises especially.
you and whose army was a great, subtle opener. it left us vulnerable to the full-on attack of the national anthem. at the beginning of the national anthem thom's mic seemed to be too low in the mix (even lower than it was for the rest of the night--my sole complaint), his beatboxing didn't get picked up very well.
2+2=5 was the standard version, as were open pick and 15 step (pretty much same as in the past). exit music was great once people stopped being asses. kid a was fantastic. the breakdown of nude where the rest of the band stops and thom sings "thinking" was perfect and chilling. after the sound problems got ironed out arpeggi was perfect. one thing i noticed was jonny was at the rhodes piano at the beginning, went to play guitar (in unison with thom, it was beautiful), and then went back to the piano for the breakdown. street spirit was tight and good as always. the cello bow on pyramid song was more than a gimmick, it was beautiful.
myxomatosis was the surprise highlight of the night for me, totally spot-on and brilliant. house of cards was beautiful as ever. spooks was sloppier than normal but still cool. idioteque was great as always. bangers and mash was fantastic, the bootlegs don't do it justice. ed has these hilarious little vocal bits he was doing tonight (not the check check check... part, i've yet to hear it on a bootleg). there there was great as always.
airbag was the best version i've heard, jonny's guitar was SO LOUD and the mix of all the other instruments was perfect. no surprises was TIGHT, as thom expressed at the end-- he mouthed tight to the rest of the band and motioned it by putting his hands close together. jonny looked confused at thom and then said something like "oh, tiiiight." bodysnatchers was also the tightest version i've heard. everything in its right place had "forever and ever and ever and ever and..." scrolling in the background.
4 minute warning was great. karma police was a perfect closer.
as previously noted, myxomatosis had the "mafia geeks" line again. during bodysnatchers i heard thom say "sod off," not sure who that was to. or if it was always in the song.
i hope for paranoid android and lucky tomorrow night, let's keep those fingers crossed.

Review and photos by Evan Roskos:

I was at the Radiohead show last night, along with about 3000 other psyched fans. First of all, the Tower is a great venue to see a band like Radiohead. Old architecture, tiny lightbulbs on the huge vaulted ceiling, blacklight space paintings on the side walls. Great sound and not a band seat in the house. The new material sounds great. "Open Pick" and "15 Step" were lively and had some new twists I hadn't heard in the live stuff floating around the internet. "Kid A" was great. Thom was dancing a lot all night, in that silly way that he dances (kind of like a controlled seizure of the legs and arms). Nude was beautiful. "Arpeggi" took a few minutes to get started. Thom asked Ed to tell a joke to pass the time. Ed said that Colin knew a good one. Everyone cheered but Colin gestured that he couldn't detach himself from his equipment to get to the mic. A silly moment. Lots of love for the whole band, but particularly Phil. During "Exit Music [for a film]" a few people shouted "We love you Phil!" including right before he kicked in. "Street Spirit" held its own amongst the new material. Radiohead has evolved, but it's easy to see some of the seeds of their newer work in songs like that. "Myxomatosis" -- not my favorite from HAIL TO THE THEIF -- sounded FANTASTIC. Very frenetic. A great live song. On the downside, "House of Cards" is one of the most boring songs Radiohead has played live. It could use more tinkering, but so far all of the live versions plod along. It's a shame, the melody is great and I like the bass line, but other than that it does nothing for me. Oh well! "Spooks" was a bit longer than the versions I had heard before. It's a surf-guitar inspired musical rant with some garbled nonsense spouted by Thom. Great fun after "House of Cards." "Idioteque" had a new (to me) layer of noise provided by Johnny. I'll have to hear some other recent live versions to see if they just came across something new. "Bangers N Mash" was great. I believe Thom introduced it as something else, though. I'm pretty sure he didn't say "Bangers N Mash" but that was definitely what they played. "Bodysnatchers" was another highlight. The new songs are really coming together.

Photos by Daniel: