Radiohead played their second gig at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby Philadelphia, taking the stage at 21:05 hrs (Eastern Standard Time). 'Go Slowly' made its North American debut, while 'The Gloaming' was played for the first time on the 2006 tour. Thom also performed an intro of Neil Young's 'After the Gold Rush' just before 'Everything in its Right Place'. Support by Willy Mason.

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Review by: Evan

Tonight was, quite unexpectedly, better than last night. The set was much more to my tastes. There There and Lucky were nice and tight. 15 Step was great as well, though it seemed Thom was a little off pitch-wise towards the beginning when he was singing a capella. Arpeggi was delightful. About the same as the other versions so far (not that that's a bad thing). Kid A seemed slower than it was last night, and Ed kept making faces (grimaces and grins) at Thom, perhaps messing up his guitar parts a bit. Dollars and Cents settled into this perfect groove... the lights, especially, were perfect. At the end Thom altered the vocals a bit, ad libbing and leaving out some of the words. The National Anthem was great as always; at the beginning Ed walked over to Jonny, perhaps trying to remember what melody to play. During Nude Thom asked Jonny to play guitar from the beginning rather than subtly entering later in the song as in the past... the intro lasted a few bars longer because Thom couldn't figure out which chord change they were on. Go Slowly was great and atmospheric though I'm a bit apprehensive as to its musical similarities to "The Thief." Paranoid Android was tight as always. Looking back on over 3,000 people singing "rain down" was really something. Spooks was better than the previous night in my opinion, as it ended more succinctly. The Gloaming was a nice treat. During the breakdown, the loop of the sampled bass actually continued while Colin played his neat little groove--there was a low-frequency rumble of two loud bass parts being played simultaneously. At the end Jonny had some weird loop playing. Thom said, "You meant to do that, right?" Jonny looked back, said "What?" Thom said, "Right. That's what I thought," though there was not much venom in his voice. Bodysnatchers was fantastic. Thom has changed a lyric: now it's "I have no idea what you are talking about, rather than "...what I am talking about." I noticed Ed singing at certain parts but not being mic'd, I wonder if he's trying to work out backing vocals for the song. 4 Minute Warning was fantastic. Phil could be seen singing along in the back. The Bends had Jonny singing along with Ed for the intro. Everything in its Right Place was preceded by a line from "After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young. Thom commented to Ed that he liked the loop (as in the previous night). How to Disappear... was a bit different from other live versions, with the rhythm section coming in sooner to support Thom, Jonny, and Ed. It also ended on a less dramatic note, simply stopping in an impromptu sort of way.

I Might Be Wrong was great. The breakdown was truly heartstopping. I absolutely love House of Cards, it's my favorite of the slower new songs. Towards the end Jonny was improvising a neat guitar line reminiscent of "Two of Us" by The Beatles. Black Star was a beautiful throwback. I'd never had much of a fondness for the song but the band did a great job with it. I like it now. Let Down was the best song of the night... such a moving experience. Phil was singing along silently in the back again.

Idioteque brought the house down. A perfect closer. To those of you who have speculated that smoking weed at Radiohead is a waste of mental capacity and observing something beautiful... Jonny was smoking a joint on stage. At first I thought his drum machine was on fire, but then I smelled it. When he left the stage he took it with him.

I would have liked Fake Plastic Trees or Planet Telex somewhere in the set, but I was really pleased. It's nice to see Radiohead take a more rhythmic direction with the dub and electronic influence they're citing (I think I also hear some krautrock). The previous night songs like Street Spirit and Pyramid Song, in my opinion, stuck out like sore thumbs. Fantastic songs but not quite fitting with the new material... it'll be interesting to see how Radiohead release this music. 4 Minute Warning and Bangers and Mash are a bit different, yeah?

While Thom was not quite as elated tonight as he was last night I was still utterly awed by his energy. Colin still seemed a bit irritated about something... typically I've always seen him happy and excited, but on stage the past two nights I've seen him looked genuinely irritated (usually due to monitor issues). Phil was on as always, singing along at times. Jonny was really into things. Ed was my favorite tonight. He kept playing to the audience... making faces, grinning, grimacing. There were these two kids between the age of 5 and 10 with their parents, who were singing along and looked like huge fans. Ed grinned, pointed, and gave a thumbs-up to the lucky bastards. 3rd row Radiohead at that age?! Jesus. Hilariously, the kids looked terrified. Ed's my favorite member of the band for antics' sake at this point.
 
- evan