Another Planet Entertainment presents Radiohead, with Dudu Tassa & the Kuwaitis
William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre
2001 Gayley Rd., Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
6:30 PM, Monday, April 17, 2017
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!
[6:32 PM band out]
[7:32 PM lights down, band out]
My hopes for fine spring evening were dashed cruelly early, as the cold dark grey day gave way to pouring rain around 3 PM this afternoon. Hmmn. Time to prepare for the worst! So I began sorting through my winter and rain gear to come up with an ensemble that would see me through the night: long underwear, wool socks, waterproofed-leather boots, rain pants, a thick thermal undershirt, rain jacket, fingerless gloves, wool scarf, all topped off by my trusty Outdoor Research waterproof sombrero. Probably looked kind of dorky, but I was planning to stay warm and dry! Getting prepared took a bit more time than I'd originally budgeted, so I called Ting and offered to pick her up from Rockridge BART (saving her a walk in the rain up from Downtown Berkeley BART). Heading over to campus, it seemed like there was an unusual number of cars out, and I soon realized that it was show traffic! Drat! So much for being early!! Taking a couple of short-cuts, I managed to work my way around the clogged intersections and up to the south-east side of Memorial Stadium. What with all the competition, we had no luck finding a spot in the closest streets, but eventually I found an open spot to ditch the car a couple blocks further away than normal. With that, we grabbed our stuff and began the walk to the Greek.
Although there were plenty of cars out, foot traffic heading in at this point was relatively mild. For a few minutes, I thought we might be good as far as my original plan of getting in early while the pit was still wide open, but upon clearing the gates and entering the bowl, I despaired to realize how wrong I was: the pit was completely filled in, and the stands appeared to be pretty tight from the center half-way out to the far sides. Double-dang! Hoping for a miracle, we walked the aisle at the back of the pit, then ducked in where the stone seats started, and began working our way towards the center sweet spot. About half way there, I heard a friendly shout, and looked up to see our old housemate Larry, who'd done a bit better on arriving early, and had staked out a bit of space pretty close to dead center on the first step down from the stone chairs. Hmmn. Not quite perfect, but beggars shant be choosers, eh? Home for tonight! Thanks Lar!
Over the next hour, the rain alternates between a scattered light fall and an intermittent misty drizzle. Nothing too annoying, given my layering job, but not nearly the pleasant spring evening I was expecting when I bought my ticket! Bill Shaw squeezes in with us just before the opener comes out, making friends with the neighbors by offering them a copy of his recording in exchange for standing room. Seems like a good plan! Soon enough, it's showtime, and we're treated to an energetic set of arab-jewish tunes by Dudu Tassa & The Kuwaitis. I like it, and given nicer weather, would have been happy to hear them play twice as long, but between the early curfew and the cold, the abbreviated set is just right.
The crowd gets noticeably thicker during set break. I can't say whether or not this is because folks are still pouring in to the venue, or whether their simply coming down from the stands for the main event. Happily, everyone who crashes our space seems grateful to be pointed towards the front or center, so it doesn't really get any more crowded inside our tiny zone. It's kind of dry by the time Radiohead comes out, and after a few tunes, the folks behind us ask if I can take my hat off. I comply, but when the showers resume midway through the set, the sombrero goes back on. It's good to be friendly, but there's no point in being stupid. I'm happy to recognize a few tunes here and there, but overall, I'm surprised at how many I don't recognize. I guess I hadn't listened to the past couple albums nearly as much as the first few. Funny how things like that will slip by you!
I'd characterize the newer tunes as generally dark and somber, full of murky rumbling and ominous gestures. Not nearly as much fun to listen to as the driving anthems I was expecting to hear, but certainly appropriate to the evening's weather. I'd like to think that they even messed with the setlist so as to perform Identikit (“Broken hearts make it rain - Broken hearts make it rain - Broken hearts make it rain - etc”) during one of the heavier showers: might as well take advantage of the circumstances, eh?
The crowd was really pumped for the first tune of the Encore, No Surprises, roaring approval as Thom sang “Bring down the government, they don't speak for us” – that's Berkeley for ya! A few folks around us were miffed when they wrapped things up with a rousing run through Idioteque to end the night – I heard one dude yell, “you still have twenty minutes!” – but being cold and damp, I was pretty satisfied with the set we got. Would have been fun to make a return tomorrow, but I'll just have to look for a download later on instead.
Interested in hearing tonight's show? I'm certain that there will be plenty of recordings in circulation, first one I heard about was this one from Daspyknows.
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!