Radiohead Revisited

Alright, well the Radiohead concert experience was quite the dichotomy of sorts. While it was an awesome experience and I was able to spend quality R&R time with some of my favorite people, the concert, for me, was a bust.

The band played well -- I mean the music was great. The problem was that when I go to a concert I want to see the band perform. We were like 200 yards from the stage and the giant screens, which are supposed to provide people with shitty seats a better view of the performance, were curiously blank. Now, for the hardcore Radiohead fans this wasn't a problem in the least because, of course, Radiohead is just "so... so transcendent and supernatural." Unfortunately I am not quite a hardcore fan and this flippant dismissal of the visual shortcomings of the concert were a source of great aggravation for me.

We were surrounded by very emotionally in-tune scene kids. You know the type -- the kids who act like the rigors of upper-middle class life are just so frustrating and tough that they really have to buck the system and showcase their human uniqueness through ridiculous haircuts and strange clothing. It took great restraint to not turn around to the sprite behind me and tell him I didn't care what he thought he sounded like in the shower, that he was ruining the already diminished experience for me with his out of tune howling.

Aggravation turned to bitterness and I began telling others in my area it probably wasn't even Radiohead that for all they knew it could just be some random gentlemen jumping around on stage. My section wasn't fond of me at that point -- when I started yelling "no more encores, just pack it up guys... seriously, no more," my section hated me. What can I say though, I'd been pushed to my limits patience wise. In hindsight I could have soaked up the experience more thoroughly, minus all the complaining, but when you drop good coin on a ticket you'd like to at least be 100% sure you actually saw the band.