Review Musique Plus Concert by Go To Sleep
This was my first RH live show, and I was pretty
impressed. Thom played with Jonny as Colin was just watching them, and he seemed
really deep into the music. It was semi-acoustic in my opinion. The setlist was
really nice too.
1. I might be wrong : Thom's voice disapointed me at the
beggining, because I wasn't used to it except on the albums. Great performance
though, with Thom shaking his head and Jonny playing guitar/bass.
2. Sail to
the moon : Incredible! Thom's voice was so cleared and powerful, just as
beautiful or even better as on HTTT. Thom on the piano and Jonny playing
guitar.
3. Go to sleep : Great performance, Thom with his acoustic and Jonny
with his electric one. Nice acoustic version.
4. Punch Up At A Wedding :
Really groovy song. Thom palying piano, I like he moves his hands. Jonny with
his guit as usual.
5. No surprises : Big surprise for me!! It was the best
real acoustic version of the show in my opinion. So peaceful with Thom playing
lighty with his guit and Jonny on the piano (instead of a xylophone). I felt
shivers in my back.
6. I Will : Thom was alone with his electric guit. It was
a magic moment. I was used with HTTT version (that got kinda 3 voices at the
same time). I sang it really high, it was so beautiful.
7. There There : The
acoustic version is fun. Acoustic guitar at first, and Jonny's part at the end
of the song. I was hoping for the "old" version with the powerful guit at the
middle of the song, but they kept it quite as the final version.
8.
Everything in its right place : I was surprised they played this song. Thom was
on the piano along an "cheap was nice" electronic beat playing at the same time.
This song was quite bouncing and entertaining. Fun song.
9. Karma police :
Thom mentionned : "This song is dedicated to the G8" He played the song on
acoustic guit with Jonny on the piano. The "I lost myself" part at the end was
soo good, people applauded at this time.
10. Like spinning plates: This was
the Encore song. Piano played piano and it just sounded as on IMBW Live
Recordings. Gorgeous song.
There're many highlights to this show : Thom's
voice was amazing, and in my opinion, it sounded sometimes even better than on
albums. He's the best singer in my opinion. The sound quality wasn't perfect
(the bass was pretty heavy, especially with IMBW) but very good though. Thom was
always smiling and it was kinda new for me. I saw MPIE, and I really though they
were so serious. But no, it really felt comfortable, made some jokes, had the
sense of humor with the fans, really confident, almost snobbish. He wasn't snob,
but he wasn't so shy as I thought the would be.
Now, the interview part.
I can't remember everything because it was really long and the band talked about
so many things. Claude Rajotte (a popular and very intelligent VJ at
Musiqueplus) interviewed Thom about the album, how it sounded. I read many
interviews before that show, so I think the 3/4 of the stuff has already been
said. There were some questions from the public and another VJ, and the
discussion turned out VERY POLITICAL. The usual question : Is HTTT really
dedicated to GeorgeWBush election, and he answered : Yes in part. But he had
this kind of sarcastic smile. He critized alot the American government, but not
only USA, about all the gov. in the world, the corporations and etc. I know he
already talked about these before, but I was kinda stuned. I found that funny
because I though almost exactly the same thing as him, but Thom was more
"apocalyptic". A question was asked : Do you think your son Noah will have the
opportuny to change the world, to make humanity better? He answered : It will be
too late.... He told that if we leave the problems to our children, we won't see
the end of it. In his opinion, he have 20 years left. If we don't change
anything, it will be too late. He also made comments on how governments needed
cheap labor, and he tried actions to convince them, but he just realised that it
was big shit, that they'll always need cheap labor ect. Another question : would
you like to be presiden? He told : Yes for sure. Wouldn't I? He still had this
semi-confident-sarcastic-funny smile. Claude Rajotte told that the nineties
music had alot of crap, and how bands like U2, REM and Radiohead are able to
continue making good music and progressing. Thom answered that the music
industry needed some changes and that it will be soon the case in his opinion.
He added : "The shit is done." with a small&weird funny voice. He also
mentionned he was really lucky to be a good mate of Micheal Stipe and that this
last saved him when he was going crazy in the Ok Computer time. A fan asked why
was Thom afraid of cars. Thom laughed and told the wasn't anymore really afraid
of cars even if he was in the past. He told hi neardeath car accident
traumatised him, it was just stuck in his head, thinking he had survived ect. He
then told that the Radiohead.tv site was a really cool idea, that they made
something with the song 2+2=5 that was really amazing. That's pretty much it.
Thom was really happy, we saw it in his face during the whole
event.
After, Jonny and Colin have been interviewed. This conversation
was more "technical" and they talked more about the music than with Thom. They
discussed about the arrangements, that they hadn't so much music influences when
they recored HTTT, Jonny answered some questions about Bodysong (nothing new).
The Greenwood brothers felt less comfortable than Thom, but were very fluid and
kind.
Finally, I loved this experience and I hope I learned you new
things about the band