Recommendations of the Editorial team
It took me a while to understand, at least the first two Radiohead concerts on Monday and Tuesday, why Radiohead always end the main set of their tour with “Bodysnatchers”. Thom Yorke’s dance moves are similar to a human’s stress response in flight and fight behavior, that’s what it has to be. “I’ve seen it coming,” he shouts like a mantra, then the piece is over and he leaves the round stage down a flight of stairs. “Bodysnatchers” is about the fear that is now called “impostor syndrome”: I am not who you think I am. I’m not good. I’m just a lie. After the last chords fade away, Yorke holds his electric guitar in the air, a “look, here, I, my work tool” move Bruce Springsteenonly with the funny difference that the boss always holds his guitar up so that the neck doesn’t stick down.
On the third evening of their Berlin guest performance, certain Radiohead routines reveal themselves and certain insights deepen. (Read the concert report for “Berlin 1” here and for “Berlin 2” here.) The concert is still wonderful. There are little things that don’t work 100%. The fidgety, electronic “The Raindrops, The Raindrops” part of “Sit Down, Stand Up” cannot fulfill the mantra-like repeated promise of the song in the first, dramatically building “We Can Wipe You Out Anytime” part.
“The National Anthem” lacks momentum without the studio horns. In “The National Anthem”, Jonny Greenwood traditionally pulls out an antenna radio, which may receive waves, the sound and voices of which he integrates into the song. But it’s not that clear, and you can’t hear it either – are you sure it’s not a toy car remote control in his hands? The maelstrom of harmonies without hooks in “Ful Stop” is so intense and self-reinforcing that it’s not noticeable when Jonny Greenwood’s guitar causes problems and a technician has to fiddle with his soundboard for a small eternity so that he can get back on.
The band in detail
Drummer Phil Selway leaves his seat and plays behind two different, opposite keyboards on “Daydreaming”. One was obviously built just for him, no one else lines up there during any of the 25 songs. Guitarist Ed O’Brien, who some unfairly consider to be Radiohead’s Andy Fletcher, plays his beautiful solos on “Nude” and “Weird Fishes / Arpeggi”, which bassist Colin Greenwood also sings along with, only this shy-looking man does it without a microphone. Greenwood often encourages the audience to clap along – this is really noticeable, Radiohead are an arena band whose fans rarely practice overhead clapping like rock fans. Greenwood wants to change that.
And Greenwood also succeeds with “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”, which receives the biggest applause for the third concert in a row and encourages people to dance most ecstatically. The evolution of this song into a hit with audiences is absolutely breathtaking. In 2007 it was only accepted as a “good pre-release single” for “In Rainbows”, but it now moves people more than “Everything in Its Right Place” and “Paranoid Android”.
Humor and surprises
“Good Evening, we’re a band called Radiohead,” says Thom Yorke at the beginning of “Paranoid Android” – the 22nd of 25 songs. After saying these words, he turns to the others, grinning and wanting to receive praise for the joke. The others nod. They have to be fun at parties, you think.
The band has had a sense of humor for many years. “Fake plastic trees” for example. What are “Real Plastic Trees” then? The diligent note-takers on setlist.fm, who probably all look like Frank Grimes, were a little quicker with the following remark, but ending a concert with “No Surprises” is not only a grandiose but also a rare event – according to setlist.fm, for the first time since 2006. A real surprise, expressed precisely in the wish not to experience any more surprises.
But Radiohead should end “Berlin 4” with “There There” again.