Part 2 - Exit Music

We had an family members birthday party to attend, which meant that if the concert were possible, I would miss The Liars. This was a sacrifice I was willing to make since I wasn't familiar with their music. I never would have done such a dis-service to an opening band in the past (unless I really didn't like them), but my time is so limited, it seemed like the best way to meet all my obligations. At the birthday party, we talked to my sister-in-law about how I was still going to go, but not until closer to when Radiohead would go on, and the fact that I was just going to buy a ticket there. She decided she would attend as well. This put the thought back in my wife's head that she wanted to go as well.

"But what about the baby"
"She'll go with us"

Panic time. All the sudden my seeming pastoral experience, laying back on the grass while the band played sprawling melodies in front of me. It had obviously been awhile since I had been to a concert, if that's how I pictured. But that wasn't important, a change of plans had been thrown into my view, and it began to cause me stress. Loud rock concerts were the perfect prescription for me, but for my child? In my head, I could hear the voices of anyone who had ever denounced rock n' roll as "noise", and it was burdenning me. I had to approach this like a prize fighter, I had to be light on my feet.

"It's too loud," I bobbed
"she'll be miserable," I weaved
"It's too late," I jabbed
"We'll get the infant ear plugs at Walgreens, I'll keep her in the sling, she'll fall asleep. All she wants is the breast. She'll be fine"

Pow! Knockout! She was good, and quicker on her feet too. My wife was ready for anything, I was no match. I grudgingly returned to my corner. We saddled up in the mini van, and were off. I was doing claculations in my head about just how long it would take to get there, how long it would take for them to break down The Liars set, and get Radiohead's up. We were cutting it close, we might just make it on time for the first song. A call was made by my sister in law's friend who had found some tickets on Craigslist. I told her she could take the chance, but I was buying them at the gate. I grumbled most of the way there. We made one more stop for some ear plugs for my daughter, and we were there.

My watch said about 9:15, and I could hear the band playing. I paced around as everyone got out of the car and we got ready to go in. My wife molded the waxy ear plugs to fit into the baby's ears. We trekked from the parking lot, hearing the music all along the way. I was grinding my teeth. I'm the kind of person who hates missing eve a second of a movie in the theater, so this was darkening my mood.

We got to the box office and there was Douche Bag's friend. He had a name, but his friend was affectionatley known as Douche Bag, and well, this was his best friend. So Douche Bags Friend (let's just call him DBBF) had 4 tickets he had paid $10 a piece for from his craiglist connection. Being the ever wary (and worried) concert veteran, I let him go first to see if the tix were legit. He got in, and we held our tickets high and proceeded through the gates.

My daughter was asleep in the sling, head against my wifes breast, and we were at a concert - a concert at a discount! I bought DBBF the biggest bear I could find to thank him and we went to find a spot on the lawn. My wife had given a call to the venue while we were in the car, and apparently The Cruzan has a roped off family area on the at every concert. What does that mean? Well it means that there is no drinking and no smoking allowed. Perfect. The stress was just floating into the atmosphere with the sounds of Radiohead filling in the spaces where it once had been.

We claimed our "seats" in the Family Area and enjoyed a rather generous amount of space where we could actually sit or stand. It was luxurious compared to what it looked like beyond our ropes. No one spilled beer on me, and no one was smoking around me. Was this heaven?

The concert washed over us, my wife and I got to be adults, with other adults as our daughter slept happily in the sling through the whole concert. We held hands, swayed, and sung along, and stared at this most wonderful creature who slept like the Christ child while we watched the music happen.

Overall we ended up missing about 4 songs. The band was a bit off, I remember a couple obvious mistakes and one or two songs that they actually started over with a muttered "sorry" from Thom. The lights and video display broken up into 5 to six parts was incredible, and I wouldn't be surprised if an IMAX concert film comes out of the tour. after the set list you can see a couple fan videos.

setlist
01 All I Need
02 bodysnatchers
03 there there
04 reckoner
05 the gloaming
06 morning bell
07 nude
08 how to disappear completely
09 15 step
10 arpeggi (played almost twice)
11 idioteque
12 bulletproof
13 where I end and you begin
14 airbag
15 everything in its right place
16 the national anthem
17 videotape

encore

18 optimistic
19 just
20 Faust Arp (thom & jonny)
21 exit music
22 bangers and mash
thom; we spent three days at miami beach. fucking hell. what's going on there? some kind of reconstruction! for once I was proud to white pale and english.

encore 2
23 house of cards
24 street spirit

Fan Videos:
The Gloaming


15 Step