All Points West Review: Day 1

After months of anticipation and waiting, All Points West finally arrived! This seemed like basically a huge Radiohead show with amazing supporting acts. I mean everyone I seemed to talk to only came for Radiohead, but then again that isn’t very surprising.

My day starting off a little late, so I got there just in time to catch Mates Of State. I never heard any songs by them, but I did enjoy the set. . It started to rain during their set, but it wasn’t close to the monsoon I experienced during Vampire Weekend back in June. The duo played sweet accessible pop tunes that were very fun to watch. They didn’t blow me away, but were good enough for me to warrant a look into their catalogue.

I then waited for the magnificent Grizzly Bear. The played a very good set filled with beautiful harmonies and melodies that flowed perfectly through the NYC backdrop. Knife was very cool to see live, but the definite highlights were their two new gems “Two Weeks” and “While You Wait For The Others.” These songs were magnificent live. The crowd was really into it, as they should have been. They can really put on a nice show. However it was a bit short, around 8 songs. I guess I will have to see them when they headline to truly get the experience. Video of Two Weeks that I recorded is at the bottom of the post.

We only saw 3 songs from CSS and they were fun I guess but it didn’t help me get all the hype around them. The first song they played was nice, but the next 2 sounded just the same. I guess I just don’t get them?

Next we checked out Underworld who I had never heard of until the show. They drew a pretty massive crowd and for good reason. The British electronic duo played an electrifying set of tunes that you couldn’t help but dance along to. The visuals were very cool, and played a big part in my enjoyment of the set. The songs were very powerful and they had the entire crowd in their control. Another band I will have to check out!

Last but certainly not least, Radiohead came on with the backing beat of 15 Steps. Oh man what an entrance that was. You felt the presence of a great band as the 5 men from Oxford shire walked onto the stage. They didn’t waste anytime and continued with a powerful rendition of there there. The thing is I was very familiar with Radiohead’s hits and I have all of their albums but still haven’t fully connected with some of the songs. However this performance (my first time seeing them) changed that. There There now sounds so much stronger when I listen to it. They played all of In Rainbows except “Faust Arp.” Thom Yorke had plenty of energy to showcase throughout the night, dancing frantically to his more danceable tune “Idioteque.” He even found time to make funny faces on camera during some of the most intimate moments, like on “You and Whose Army.”

That is the beauty of Radiohead, they take their music seriously, but they do have a lot of fun with it. We were treated to “Paranoid Android” and “Just“, which made any die hard Radiohead fan 10x happier than they already were. They pushed their set past the 10:30 deadline given by APW with a second encore. Thom played a newer song “Cymbal Rush” solo on piano, and the finished off the night with a rowdy rendition of the Kid A standout “Everything In Its Right Place.” The night had ended and everything was quite alright. Until they played again in 24 hours.

Setlist:

1. 15 Step
2. There There
3. Morning Bell
4. All I Need
5. Lucky
6. Nude
7. Arpeggi
8. The Gloaming
9. Optimistic
10. Videotape
11. Reckoner
12. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
13. You And Whose Army
14. Idioteque
15. Climbing Up The Walls
16. Bodysnatchers
17. How to Disappear Completely

Encore 1
18. House of Cards
19. Pyramid Song
20. Paranoid Android
21. Dollars & Cents
22. Street Spirit

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