Radiohead truly did their great name justice Wednesday night at Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal. The music, visuals and vibe all came together to make this one of the finest concerts I have ever got the chance to see.
First off, I’ll admit that this was the biggest concert I have ever attended. Pushing a bit larger was the Sasquatch music festival, but that is multiple bands playing multiple days, so that doesn’t really count. The sheer volume of concert goers really blew me away, everyone from hipsters, to young parents were there. Getting drunk, getting high and having fun was the main priority, and no one seemed that deterred by the rain. It was really quite special.
Radiohead really played for the crowd. I can’t stand it when bands play a pretentious selection of their personal favs, or new tracks they think “should be favourites”. Starting off with “15 Steps”, and going right back to “There There” (from Hail to the Thief), I could tell that there would be some genuine diversity to the show. It was really great to hear In Rainbows live, all with classic Radiohead bits mixed in with new enthusiasm. My highlight was “National Anthem” with some really trippy visuals, which made up for being a kilometer away from the stage.
One plus/minus that made the whole show so unique was the accidental inclusion of fireworks. A firework competition was going on elsewhere on the island and it scared the pants off of members of the audience (I thought it was gunshots). For me, it made the whole thing a little bit more special, but Thom Yorke had a different opinion. He mentioned the fireworks being “A huge waste” considering they weren’t “At the end or in time [with the music]“. He’s right though, the fireworks would have been sooo much cooler had they been synchronized with the tunes.
I guess the light show on the stage was good enough for the ticket price, and this show will be going down in my memories as epic.
Tags: concert, fireworks, hipster, in rainbows, live music, montreal, parents, radiohead, rainbows, sound
August 7, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I thought the fireworks were a part of the show when first tidbits of shoiw review leaked out…thats too bad. I was well excited to see fireworks and Radiohead in Van. I’ll settle for Radiohead. And by settle I mean I may pee myself.
August 8, 2008 at 10:28 am
i’m glad you liked the pics i snapped.
what a great show.