Gig Review - Radiohead (09/11/2012)

RADIOHEAD (09/11/2012)

Live at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Review by Jo Michelmore

One of my favourite lyrics of all time is very simple and comes from a Radiohead song; “no alarms and no surprises, please”. A plead of simplicity, some days it’s a mantra for me, but after the gig I saw on Friday night, I’m slowly learning the lesson that some surprises aren’t always a bad thing, some surprises are truly amazing.


I wasn’t sure what I would see at a Radiohead gig in 2012. Having seen them in Sydney in 2004 I thought I knew what to expect, an amazing journey of sound but not so much actual entertainment, something I would be impressed with but not necessarily excited about. This is where the lesson of surprise comes into play.
Frontman Thom Yorke bounds onto the stage in a way I totally didn’t expect, full of energy and not the subdued, introverted singer I have come to assume he is during their long career. Launching into ‘Lotus Flower’ and ‘Bloom’ from their latest album King Of Limbs I thought this might be a show full of new material, a band who might deny their history, but I tried to reserve judgement and was pleasantly rewarded with over two hours of Radiohead from every era, an absolute delight to see and hear. Guitarist Ed O’Brien does his fair share of mad dancing and Johnny Greenwood is also mesmerising, but it’s Thom who remains an enigmatic lead throughout their set, from dancing in awkward and adorable ways during ‘The Gloaming’ to simply sitting still at the piano during ‘The Daily Mail’, I can’t keep my eyes from him. He doesn’t talk much to the crowd, but what he does say is applauded and appreciated “What? You want more? Thank fuck for that” and “Free Tibet, it’s just down the road”; like so many Radiohead lyrics, he seems to choose his words wisely, communicating only what needs to be said at the right time in the right way.

There is something for every fan during the slightly more than two hour set; ‘Reckoner’ from In Rainbows is phenomenal, ‘Paranoid Android’ from OK Computer is a surprising inclusion and everything as fresh and new as it has been for the past fifteen years, ‘Myxamatosis’ from Hail To The Thief is breathtaking, ‘Pyramid Song’ from Amnesiac is spine tingling. In the seconds between being mesmerised by the music, the stage and light show is amazing, twelve moving screens suspended above the stage showing various band members and images while a wall of coloured light behind matches every song perfectly; of course ‘Climbing Up The Walls’ is green, of course ‘Bodysnatchers’ is purple, of course ‘The National Anthem’ is red and blue. They prove their appreciation of technology by flashing QR codes on screens above the stage which rewards fans able to scan them, with clips from the gig (although I can’t imagine anyone in the venue who wasn’t completely transfixed with the experience to bother).


My favourite surprise from the gig was the amount of encores given, three in total and the songs chosen for those encores were beyond perfect. A lifelong dream fulfilled in seeing ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ played live, I hope I will never forget the sounds of those words "immerse your soul in love" and the actual tears they induced. The final songs, a Bjork cover ‘Unravel’ which morphs into ‘Everything In It’s Right Place’ and then ‘Idioteque’ give me the feeling that keeps me addicted to live music, the goosebumps I keep coming back for time and time again.


It seems Radiohead have returned to the top of the list of some of my favourite bands of all time, which is not something I expected to happen after Friday night. That I suppose is the magic of live music, the smallest of gigs and the largest of gigs can be everything you expect or can be a complete and total surprise. With their set on Friday night, Radiohead welcomed me back into their enchanting world, a world of beautiful lyrics and spine tingling sounds and it was a surprise invitation I am more than happy to accept. No alarms and no surprises? Some days yes, but thankfully not last Friday. Thank you Radiohead, that gig was one of the most pleasant surprises in a long time.

Gig Review - The Black Keys (26/10/12)

THE BLACK KEYS (26/10/12)

Live @ The Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Review by Jo Michelmore

There are some bands that are amazing to see in a tiny venue; maybe a bar or a smoke filled room somewhere, their music begs to fill small spaces and 'nooks in the wall' type venues. There are some bands that need to play giant arenas, stadiums filled with tens of thousands of people all screaming and bouncing and filling a huge space with energy. Then there are bands like the Black Keys.


I’m going to admit, a venue of the ‘arena’ type, the Brisbane Entertainment Centre is not a venue I love. It’s situated in swamplands on the outskirts of the city. Surrounded by suburbia, the venue itself is cold and harsh and a little dated (not in a good way) it’s not the ideal place to see live music. This wasn’t the place I was hoping to see the Keys, but I go wherever the music takes me and last Friday night that’s where I needed to be.


Some silhouettes across a white screen backdrop and the distinctive drums of ‘Howlin’ For You’ open the show and immediately I know I’m in for a special live music experience, they sound exactly as they should, every note where it needs to be and it doesn’t take long before that “da da da da da” refrain has the venue filled with the sound of voices singing along. They power through song after song of amazing, mainly from their more recent offerings, ‘Brothers’ and ‘El Camino’ but the standout tracks came from numerous albums; ‘Dead And Gone’, Thickfreakness’, ‘Ten Cent Pistol’ and ‘Lonely Boy’ being especially strong. Dan Auerbach is one of those special people who is able to make his guitar pull your heart out of your chest in one song (hello ‘Girl Is On My Mind’, which I never wanted to end) and then he has you dancing like a puppet on his string the next (hello ‘Gold On the Ceiling’; I challenge anyone who wasn’t moving during that performance to prove they have a heartbeat). That’s not to take anything away from drummer Patrick Carney, who keeps everything together, whether it be as part of a four piece (as they are with keyboard player/guitarist player John Wood and bassist Gus Seyffert on this current tour) or a two piece, Patrick takes them from rootsy blues right through to garage rock and some 70’s psychedelia. Interestingly, stripping back to a two piece (as they did mid-way through the set and for the encore) seems to create the biggest impression, it’s during these moments I can see myself sitting in that small bar watching two boys on a tiny stage in the corner, but I’m also keenly aware of the sound of rock music, which is made for stadiums. My favourite part of any gig, the sing-along, is strong in ‘Little Black Submarines’ and although the crowd is small, they savour every minute of it.

Finishing the set with the audience pleasing ‘Lonely Boy’, I do wonder if they’ll come back for more, but as I see what seems to be one of the world’s biggest disco balls being lowered from the roof, I suspect I’m in for something special. This is a moment that can only be had in a large venue and literally took my breath away, during the lighting created for ‘Everlasting Light’, I gasped “wow” numerous times and judging by the amount of instagram photos hash tagged ‘Black Keys’, ‘disco ball’ and ‘pretty’ after the show, it seems a lot of other people were just as impressed. They pulled out all their big arena tricks for the encore, with a flashing Vegas style ‘Black Keys’ sign lowered for the final song, they were tricks perfectly timed as they left the crowd on a high, not ready for the end.


Bands like the Black Keys are special. In a big arena they have the ability to fill it completely with rock and dancing and noise like a big venue should be filled but they haven’t lost the ability to pull each and every audience member to the stage, feeling intimate and welcomed and comfortable. There’s a special talent in being able to do that and it’s one I hope to witness again, soon.