Radiohead at Nissan Pavilion 5-11-08

Ok, I don't want to write about the rain, the miserable, cold, driving rain. I don't want to write about the two hours it took my crew to travel 45 miles to the show (leaving 3 hours early no less). I don't want to talk about sitting in the parking lot without moving for more than two and a half hours after the show. I don't want to talk about the countless others that experienced the exact same thing or the countless others that couldn't even get to the venue due to flooding and ridiculously bad venue management. I don't want to write about all these things, but these aspects so dominated Radiohead's set at Virginia's Nissan Pavilion that it would be impossible to not talk about them.

Leaving several hours before the show was supposed to start, we sat in traffic on the 20 mile stretch from the DC beltway to Bristow, Va. It rained the entire time and there were no signs of the rain stopping. Getting off the highway, traffic was backed up miles from the venue. It rained the entire time and there were no signs of the rain stopping. Finally pulling into the parking lot we huddled in our car until the very last minute. It rained the entire time and there were no signs of the rain stopping. Walking to the venue I was soaked within minutes. It rained the entire time and there were no signs of the rain stopping.

Ok, you get it, it rained alot.

The benefit of going to a venue in the middle of nowhere and that lets cars in one at a time is that by the time you finally get there it is time for the headliner. Colin Greenwood was the first band member to appear from backstage and bounded to his bass in typical Colin manner. The rest of the band joined him and they started into "All I Need" which felt appropriate at such a miserable time. The primary set was heavy on songs off of their new album, "In Rainbows", with "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" and "Bodysnatchers" showing that the band can still rock and "Reckoner" and "Videotape" being delicate, yet powerful. Thom Yorke had some trouble on "Faust Arp", not being able to get in sync with Johnny Greenwood and having to restart the song. The rain, which was blowing onto the stage, may have been the problem, in which case nobody in the crowd could blame Yorke. Old favorite "Paranoid Android" took on new meaning, as the soaked crowd sang out "rain down, rain down, rain down on me". "Myxomatosis", "Idioteque", "Just" and "Everything In It's Right Place" rounded out a heavy primary set.

The first encore featured a sharp version of "Optimistic" and an inspired (by, as Thom put it, "those people on the Hill") "Karma Police". Radiohead reached back into their catalog and finished their encore with "Planet Telex".

The second encore started with the always passionate "Fake Plastic Trees" before Colin Greenwood's bass started pounding out the opening notes of "The National Anthem". The crowd, which had been mostly beaten down and docile the entire night, finally responded as Radiohead's brilliant new set flickered and pulsed behind them. After genuinely thanking the rain soaked crowd, the band ended the night with "House of Cards", sufficiently bringing things down a notch before sending us back to reality.

At no point in my life had it ever been so apparent that music is a necessary distraction from the hardships of life. Immediately upon leaving the venue, the crowd was faced with calf-deep streams and mud, not to mention the rain that continued to fall. Seeking refuge at our car, we thought the worst was behind us, after all we were no longer being pounded by icy rain, so things had to be better, right? The physical hardship may have been over (well, somewhat, as sitting in wet clothes in the backseat of a Mazda 3 is not exactly comfortable), but the psychological hardship was just beginning. On the walk out, we saw cars headed for the exit, sadly those were the last cars we saw move for more than two hours. Literally, we did not move for two hours and it was just as frustrating and miserable as you can imagine. I'm not sure how the Nissan Pavilion people can sleep at night, knowing that thousands of people are literally trapped at their venue following shows (not to mention the safety risks), but I'm sure they are working on it, since the $6 per ticket parking fee HAS to be going toward something.

Sadly, a(nother) tremendous Radiohead show will be forever linked to miserable weather and an awful venue.