--6/27. Radiohead rocks, baby. Note: the stuff on the "title" refers to the original entry title, "The Morning Bell." On OpenDiary, you have entry titles. Heh. ^^;--

That entry title, I assure you, has a reason for it. A very, very nice reason. IT IS THE BEST REASON EVER!

For that title is, indeed, a Radiohead song. And upon the fine, wonderous, lovely day of Saturday, June 23, 2001, I DID SEE RADIOHEAD IN CONCERT.

The tickets had been pricy--a good 50 dollars for a stub of paper--and the trip in the car long (it took place at the Gorge, a natural Ampatheater in George, Washington, a town with no redeeming features other than the Gorge and having an unfortunate pun of a name) but it was all worth it.

When I got there, with my brother and his girlfriend, it was crowded. Mostly college bums and some high school slackers, but some people came as far as Florida, Alaska, and Ohio, according to some of the plates I saw.

We got in after having our bags checked (something I hope security realized was a futile effort. Honestly, they just barely had me sort through my purse. All I had to do was rummage around it feebly. And, when I got in, there was at least one guy with a bottle FREELY marked "Vodka," and half the ampatheater was smoking pot) and greeting some friends from our town who had also showed.

We originally went to the standing area, where we layed out a blanket to sit to wait for the music to start. While we were waiting, a friend and I went up to get victimized by the shirt sellers. I bought a small t-shirt for 30 dollars. I felt capitalism mock me openly. I went back to the blanket and celebrated loosing 15 dollars more than I should have.

Around 7 o'clock (the concert officially started at 7:30) we decided to move up further in the standing area to see the bands easier, a futile effort when you happen to be 5'1".

The opening band was the Beta Band, also from England. I was pretty close to them, and they were very good, but I honestly can't tell you much more about them other than that most of the band was wearing jumpsuits, except the lead who wore a gold-and-black Chinese robe; that they kicked a soccer ball into the crowd; and that they were pretty good. Why? The crowd. The standing area, of all areas in a concert, is the most frightening and worrisome. Now, the guy drinking vodka--that was okay. But then people RIGHT in front of me started smoking pot, while everyone to the other sides had cigarettes. Now, I'm not really anti-pot to any particular capacity, but there was no fresh air. Nothing. I began to get dizzy and my throat hurt, although that might have just been the cigarettes. It didn't help that everyone was packed together, and the only real breeze I ever felt was when the guy to my left breathed out, and his breath trickled across my neck. That's how close we all were. This all was the reason why my brother, his girlfriend and I all eventually went up to the hill about 3/4 though the Beta Band's set, where, sitting on the grass, Radiohead appeared to be about the size of beetles.

However, there was one more thing that was freaky as all get-out in the standing area. Right behind me was a woman who looked absolutely dead. It was disquieting. Her eyes were rolled all the way back in her head, her lips were blue, her skin pale, and the man behind her was holding her up. Medics finally came and pulled her out, but by that time she had vomited. I don't think anyone got hit, but the vomit on the ground was this unsettling red color. The crowd nervously looked at it a bit, then did something I suppose is logical, but seems unusual, still. They just covered the vomit with garbage. Paper, bags, cups, anything. Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose. I left for the hill soon after.

When Radiohead finally came out, everyone was naturally very very happy. Me included. They're all really handsome, if you ask me--especially Jonny Greenwood, heh--and HUGELY talented. What I didn't get was that the crowd in the standing area was moshing. To Radiohead. I'm sorry, but Radiohead is not a mosh-inducing band. They are more likely to induce sitting down and realizing your life is a sham.

They were pretty small to me, on the stage, but there were screens to either side of the stage, upon which they played real-time closeups of the band, so it was all good.

It's hard to really describe the certain magic in being outside, under stars and listening to your second-favorite band. This was the set list, however (which I had to get online. You don't tend to get all the names down in order like this. I was too busy just absorbing):

Setlist

The National Anthem

Morning Bell

Lucky

My Iron Lung

Karma Police

Exit Music

Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box

Airbag

Reckoner

No Surprises

Dollars and Cents

I Might Be Wrong

Pyramid Song

Paranoid Android

Idioteque

Everything In Its Right Place

Encore:

Talk Show Host

Climbing Up The Walls

You And Whose Army?

How To Disappear Completely

Encore 2:

Street Spirit

The Bends

Encore 3:

Motion Picture Soundtrack

Jonny's xylophone skills were great on No Surprises, and, although I got nervous during Exit Music (I couldn't tell if Thom was angry at the crowd or if there was an instrument failure, but they just stopped. They started back up again, though) it was all very wonderful. Even with the crowd. Motion Picture Soundtrack was the best song to end on, I believe... it's so beautiful, and the last line "I will see you in the next life" is just a great way to end a night. Or maybe I'm just a titch dark.

I wish that there was a way to just have everyone to sit down nicely and listen to them. I think they'd be a good band to listen to in an auditorium, everyone sitting down and just feeling the music, just understanding the futility of it all. It seemed odd, for people to mosh to Street Spirit. It's odd to do anything but just realize Street Spirit, to feel that kind of dark bleak future in that song. Bah, but we get what we get, eh?

After it was all over, we had a fun time getting out of the parking lot (which was actually just a grassy field). It was a half hour before we even moved. We just sat around listening to the Art Bell show, upon which was a man who had gone to heaven and hell. He seemed awfully insecure with his sexuality, though. When he was describing Lucifer, he kept saying "All I'm saying is that, if he were a woman, he'd be drop-dead gorgeous," to which the host (some girl filling in for Art) said "So he was beautiful?" The man repeated, "If he were a woman, he'd be what we call drop-dead beautiful." I don't know, it seems like it'd be pretty darn easy to just say "he was a beautiful man."

Anyway, despite the people vomiting, the tiny size of Radiohead, and that I'm going to have to burn my clothes to get them to smell right... Despite it all, it was a wonderful night. And I'm sorry for taking so long to write this up. I'm just a bit of a slacker.

Have a nice night.