Radiohead @ The Theater at Madison Square Garden, 14 June 2006

I've only seen Radiohead three times, including last night, and somehow I still forget what it's like. To see them perform is to see a legendary band on top of their game. The greatest active band in the world, I think that's easy enough to agree on, no? I actually made an attempt to explain this opinion of mine to a friend yesterday...why, she asked, are they so important? What's so great about them? I offered an explanation of my thoughts on this, but I want to know what you guys think and I'll proceed with a bit about the show. So, how good (how important) is Radiohead?

Last night, Radiohead was excellent. Thankfully the seat I had (thanks Jesse!) was pretty much in the middle of the room but I can imagine some of the seats towards the back, or on the side, being rough in terms of the view. So as to maintain a more pure experience (no, I'm not kidding) I've purposely not listened to any of the new songs that have leaked online and I didn't read any reviews of the first show here in New York. But, to get an idea of how different the sets were I did, however, check out the setlist from night one posted on Productshop. Must say, in my opinion, the setlist for show number two was better. Hearing songs they didn't play on night one (like "Pyramid Song", "My Iron Lung", "A Wolf At The Door", "Like Spinning Plates", and "Just") was really fucking ace. Other highlights included the new material and seeing Thom play drums. Of all of the songs I heard that I didn't know, I think there was only one I didn't care for much and two that really knocked my socks off. And yeah, they rolled out this little Muppet drum kit and midway through the song (which song was it anyway? urgh, can't remember) Thom jumped on it and went all Phil Collins - singing and keeping a serviceable beat. So he plays piano, guitar, and drums now...does he play these on his new solo album? Anyway, for the second encore, after "Just" I fully expected them to end with "Karma Police". They began what was to be their final song and I was a smidge disappointed. Why? "Karma Police" would've been a typical, bland, boring end to the night. Radiohead is anything but those things and playing "The Tourist" to close the night was a perfect choice. Big shock, they've been making perfect decisions their entire career.

The Setlist (from here):
01 The Gloaming
02 The National Anthem
03 15 Step
04 Arpeggi
05 Kid A
06 Dollars And Cents
07 Videotape
08 Nude
09 I Might Be Wrong
10 Paranoid Android
11 Bangers 'n Mash
12 Pyramid Song
13 My Iron Lung
14 Bodysnatchers
15 Myxomatosis
16 No Surprises
17 Everything In Its Right Place
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18 A Wolf At The Door
19 Down Is The New Up
20 Like Spinning Plates
21 Spooks
22 Idioteque
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23 Just
24 The Tourist

Read more about the show on One Louder, Adam's Life, The Music Slut, and Productshop.