RADIOHEAD rocks at St.Gallen OpenAir

Photo: Maxim Gaponenko

Festival tour schedule brings RADIOHEAD to Switzerland to�headline the St.Gallen OpenAir festival. The band is in�extremely good shape on tour. They seem to absolutely enjoy playing all pieces�of their music and finally look pretty much relieved. The rhythm is perfect,�the arrangements are made with genius touch, and the level of self-confidence and�group spirit is at the highest level. This year, RADIOHEAD prepared about 70�songs from all 9 albums for live performance. This allows them to change their�playlists the way they like, making a new set for every evening.

Saturday, July 2nd,�22:15,�half an hour before a RADIOHEAD show. The venue do�not seem to be ready to welcome them properly. On the third day of the�festival, after 2 rainy days, the grounds look like a one big swamp. People are�already tired. They are muddy and, what is worse, gloomy. Cold weather with rain drops do�not seem to increase optimism. The festival line-up is way off from the British�band stream. And there is even yet another attraction for many people � still continuing�EURO 2016 football match Italy vs. Germany. Anyone, who needs to starts a�concert in these conditions, shall be ready to rock hard from the very�beginning. Anyone, but not the RADIOHEAD.

The band, which brings this year to live performance pieces�from their entire music catalog, continues to constantly change their concert�s�set lists. However, one thing remains untouched � the intro part. As during�previous concerts, RADIOHEAD begun tonight with the first five songs from the�brand new album �A Moon Shaped Pool�. For anyone who knows their new album it was�not an obvious choice to start a gig tonight. Though, the band seemed to know what�they were doing, it became a challenge. For the band. For the audience.

If �Burn the witch� gave some vibes to the listeners, the�following piece �Daydreamers� was finished nearly in silence. An enchanting�beauty of this new song under rainy sky with barely recognizable vocals by Thom�seemed to push listeners completely out of their comfort zones. And most of�them did not find how to yield their emotions � they just remained silent, no�clamps, no screams... Just an overwhelming silence. As RADIOHEAD continues with�their next 2 songs, the feeling of a quiescent beauty dissolved in the air only�increased. It remained completely unclear where it will bring the band finally ��to an unprecedented level of a spiritual contact with a crowd or to a complete�loss of a connection with them.

�We are called RADIOHEAD�, Thom said. Fortunately, most of�people were aware!� And fortunately,some of them knew what to expect. Or, they hope that they knew. As the band�smashed �Ful Stop�, it seemed they found self-confidence again, as well as the�crowd did. The first sounds of �Lucky�, a powerful masterpiece from �OK�Computer�, burn the fire around. Those, who were there specifically for�RADIOHEAD, reacted immediately. The degree of interaction came back to the�proper level and it seemed to be a really lucky moment for an emotional�reunion. The following �Talk Show Host�, �Lotus Flower�, and� �No Surprises� proved the reloaded engagement�of the audience. From that moment on it became clear that we are going to be a�part of the great gig. Restricting their inner power, band performed a �Pyramid�Song�. A trembling harmony of this ballade had little to do with the venue�tonight, but it gently found a lot in common with hearts of those who come.

And here it started. The emotional dam broke down and got�release of a hidden storm. The following half an hour bring genuinely crafted �Numbers��and �Identikit� from the new album, as well as pieces from �Kid A� and �In�Rainbows�. Fascinating power and rhythms of �Identikit� did not leave anybody�neutral. While Thom was dancing around the stage covering it from the left to�the right, it seemed that thousands of people finally started to sing along�together. Refrain �Broken hearts make it rain�� found its way far outside the�festival grounds. Liberated freshness of emotions, passion, love. That is what�we saw on the stage. It was a�magnificent unity of brilliant musicians passionately�immersed deep in their masterwork which delivered a powerful, breathtaking act of art. RADIOHEAD�ended the first part of the concert with yet another mercilessly beautiful and probably�saddest song they have ever written, �Street Spirit (fade out)�. Again, to�leave their audience lost in the darkness of St.Gallen night as they left the�stage.

Several minutes of ovations followed by the band return.�RADIOHEAD was ready to take us one more time to a labyrinth of emotional chaos.�Started gently with an airy �Bloom� and hit hard with a smash of �Paranoid�Android�, gave time to recover with a beauty of �Nude� and nailed with a savage�power of �2+2=5�. They had to change instruments after each song, but managed�to keep the degree of internal flame unperturbed, bringing it higher and higher�with every minute. One could not predict for how long it can continue. But when�the crew bring two additional drum sets to the stage, it became clear that the�boiling point is still to happen. And it came with a wild power of �There There�.�The feral rhythms of this song supervised by the band and supported by the clapping�crowd marked an evanescent unity of the artists with their listeners, opened a�new dimension of their interaction tonight.

And as the band left the stage this time, it appeared that�the crowd found its own voice. It wasn�t a line, neither a word. It was just a�simple sound, just �Uuuuhh�. But it was so internally powerful and fair, that�it grew up louder and louder in a couple of seconds until it covered whole�festival grounds and went beyond. It did not stop when the band came back for�the second encore. And those, who were close enough to the stage, were able to�see the smiles on musicians� faces. How often do you see Thom smiling? It was�clear that RADIOHEAD enjoyed their performance and were delighted to being�welcomed this way by a thankful audience. Jonny reverenced with a hand on his�heart, Ed and others applause to the people, while Thom tried to direct a sound�of the crowd as a conductor. The silent appreciation came down again only with the first�chords from his guitar. The band decided to smash one more hook, and played��Exit music (for a film)�. This incredibly powerful ballad highlighted the very�special night. What else they could do, one may wonder. And I am sure, you know�the answer. And RADIOHEAD knew it. And they did. They finish the concert with�their epic �Karma Police�, singing it with us. And when the band members were�leaving the stage applauding with bright smiles all over their faces, the crowd�still continued to refrain �For a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself��.�The refrain which obtained tonight a clearly tangible meaning. �Tonight, the genius band at their best�performed in a seem-to-be-wrong place in a seem-to-be-wrong moment. For some�time, everyone was lost here under the dark sky of St. Gallen. But RADIOHEAD manage�to finally find the way to supporters through the labyrinth of catching beauty�and vibrating harmonies. And as a sign of appreciation, Thom returned to his�microphone with a guitar to sing �I lost myself�� along with the crowd for one�more minute. �Thank you for having us!� were the last words one could here�before he came to the very edge of the stage for the last reverence, a shy�genius with shiny eyes and happy smile. He did not talk a lot during a concert,�but his gestures told much more than loud words to those who understands.

This magnificent evening came to its end with fireworks in�the sky, the falling stars to remind us about irresistible transience of�happiness.

RADIOHEAD performed:

Setlist

Burn the Witch

Daydreaming

Decks Dark

Desert Island Disk

Ful Stop

Lucky

Talk Show Host

Lotus Flower

No Surprises