RadioheadScoring Radiohead's highly coveted support slot was New Zealand's Connan Mockasin, who performed a tidy little set of progressive, experimental rock. The frequently shifting time signatures and genres managed to garner the attention of a crowd of loyal Radiohead devotees.
Eight years have passed and two albums have been released since Radiohead last toured Australia, and this concert delivered everything die-hard fans had been waiting for. It was the first opportunity for In Rainbows and The King Of Limbs material to be performed live on Australian soil and the setlist was generous in realising this.
Bloom signalled the plunge into a spectacular audio-visual experience that was to last for over two hours. Two drummers created a heavy drum'n'bass style rhythm section, which was to underlie the entire show, but blossomed perfectly in this opener. Layers of guitar, samples and reverb soaked vocals were richly lathered over the top, with Thom Yorke's voice sending shivers as it swept around the cavernous hall.
Twelve movable screens were suspended over the stage. They rearranged for every song and mimicked the rhythm and complexity of each, flashing images of the limbs, instruments and musicians working them. Block colour worked fantastically as a lighting feature, capturing the tone of each song, but it was an awesome moment when the screens were blasted with a kaleidoscope of colour for new track Full Stop.
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Lucky, Morning Mr Magpie and Weird Fishes/Arpeggi kept the audience hypnotised, but as Yorke began to jitter around the stage like a live wire, the audience seemed to regain a bit of consciousness. The bass got heavier and the distortion was cranked up. They moved into a more electronic section with Myxomatosis and The Gloaming, before taking a breather and putting the spotlight on Yorke's vocals with Separator and Nude, which for the most part soared, but occasionally snagged.
Bodysnatchers officially closed the set as the audience howled for more and the band grabbed a minute's rest, but the show was far from over with three encores to come. Give Up The Ghost was a beautifully bare moment with Yorke looping his vocals into rich harmonies, before Jonny Greenwood took a bow to his guitar for Pyramid Song. As Idioteque closed the night, the audience were left to float back down to earth, pick up their chins and collect their blown minds.
