Radiohead pumps out the hits, gives massive crowd words to shout into the night sky

All photos by Jing Zhou except first, by Brad Flora

Just got back from Radiohead. Notes:

1. There were a lot of people there. A regular multitude. This cell-shot is murky, but it conveys the scope of the event. I'm pulling a number of the air, but I'm guessing there were 75,000 people in attendence (which is in line with this prediction [1] via the great Greg Kot of the Tribune.)

2. Radiohead played the hits. And then they kept playing more hits. I don't have a setlist for you, but they definitely played:

15 Steps - The band started the night off with the first song on their latest album, "In Rainbows." (ID'ed by commenter, Kevin, below.)
Everything in its Right Place - The crowd went nuts for the opening chords of this one.
Paranoid Android - Not the best live rendition I've heard of this one, but who's complaining
Optimistic - Thom Yorke hit a few opening chords before this tune...and I recognized them immediately, turning smugly to Jing to announce (correctly!) what the next tune would be.The falsetto drones that run through the tune were HAUNTING.
The Bends - The soaring telecaster solo sounded incredible in the flesh.
Idioteque - Last song of the night.

Airbag - This was song #2 (after a tune from the new album that I didn't recognize). Huge crowd pleaser. That cut-up bassline never gets old.
Fake Plastic Trees - Nice mellow song. I wanted to rouse my whole section of the crowd into a singalong...but they were way to busy yelling at people and getting angry (watched show from a precarious spot near the stairs. Much pushing/shoving.)
National Anthem - This sounded pretty darn good. I didn't care for the radio samples they layered over the tune, but so long as they nail the rhythm section it sounds great. Of course they did.
No Surprises - Another crowd pleaser. I was honestly a little bored by this one in parts, though I like the recorded version of the song a good deal.
Bodysnatchers - They ripped into this one like it was a bag of nacho cheese combos fresh off the rack from a Marathon Station. Just fun, raunchy rock.
Dollars and Cents - Yorke's voice really screamed on this one.
2+2=5 - More on this in a bit as it was the highlight of the night.

Police helicopter hanging overhead during Radiohead's set.

3. Highlight of the night: Perfect song at the perfect moment in the perfect city.

Chicago's Police have been getting a lot of bad press lately. Security at the last "big event" (Taste of Chicago) was sorely criticized after a stabbing occured nearby [2]. Lollapalooza [3]'s a big event for the city. The festival program includes a message from Mayor Daley [4]. They're not taking any chances with safety this year, errecting a police tower at the northern Hutchinson Field.

If security was beefed up this year, I sure didn't notice it during the day. What I DID notice, however, and everyone else watching Radiohead, was the helicopter hovering over the crowd throughout the night, shining a spotlight down on the assembled masses. It was downright creepy, conscioiusly knowing that you're being watched. That you're all being watched.We'd all just seen Batman, too. It was a little too "Gotham" for me.

And it was during the helicopter's second flyby that Radiohead let rip with the opener from their 'Hail to the Thief' album, 2+2=5, a song that, while not baldly political, certainly has anti-authoritarian, anti-Bush overtones, with its refrain of "All Hail to the Thief!"

Seeing the copter overhead, hearing the band belt out the angular chords, I wondered if the crowd saw the connection. It sure seemed like it, judging by the applause the song received. Here was a tune that addressed what was happening that very moment to all 75,000 us. Who in the crowd didn't want to shake their fist at the blinking lights gliding overhead? Only at a rock festival, eh?

4. Strangers really do bond at rock shows...sometimes. I hadn't been to a festival-style concert in quite some time. So I'd forgotten the weirdo bond that can grow between people stuck together at random in the crowd, but who both enjoy the music together. Jing and I stood next to a really scary-looking skinhead covered in tribal tattoos who told us he snuck into the festival. I made a few comments to him here and there as people jostled into us and eventually we were talking Radiohead and having a grand old time. He confessed that he knew all the songs but couldn't remember any of their titles. I admitted I knew all their titles but hadn't heard the latest album yet. So we helped each other out. Everything was pretty chill, other than the moment when someone looked at him funny and he shoved the guy into next Tuesday...at least it wasn't me!

But sometimes the bond just isn't there. The hipster gal in the purple tank top standing on my left glared daggers at me all night long, first for *gasp* talking during the show, then (I think) for bobbing my head a bit too much and belting out a line or two of The Bends. I responded with a smile every time, but she only gave me more hate and eye-rolls. Boo!

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I can't say whether this was one of Radiohead's better or worse performances. It was my first time seeing them live. Truth be told, the crowd seemed pretty subdued. Late in the set, Yorke called them out actually, saying something along the lines of "You don't have to be so quiet." Of course, this elicited a roar from the audience, but even then it was far from deafening.

There may have been just too many people there. My perch was about 400 yards from the stage with an unobstructed view. But thousands were stuck clear across the field, with only suspended monitors playing live feeds from the stage. I can imagine I'd feel somewhat underwhelmed from that point of view.

On tap for tomorrow: Rage Against the Machine, plus a look at the most colorful and weirdest tattoos at the festival.

What'd you think of Radiohead's set? Was it up to snuff?

Did I misread the helicopter/2+2=5 moment?

Were you also the unwitting target of a hipster hate?