All Points West (Radiohead) | Liberty State Park, NJ | 8.8 – 8.9.2008
The first (annual?) All Points West festival took place in Jersey City this weekend. But it wasn’t really so much a festival, as just a big RADIOHEAD show with a lot of bands playing (at least from my point of view).
FRIDAY
The festivities kicked off Friday afternoon. Grizzly Bear delivered an awesome set on the side stage filled with brand new songs and favorites from Friend and Yellow House. Then Underworld got the crowd into a dancing mood before the highlight attraction took the stage.
Radiohead appeared just after 8:30pm and began an epic 25-song, 2 hour and 15 minute set. The band seemed in good spirits, but spoke minimally to the crowd for the duration of the performance. The show highlighted In Rainbows (9 of the 10 songs were played), in addition to songs spanning the bands entire career. The standout song came early in the night, with a stunning rendition of “Lucky” from OK Computer. Other highlights included the beautiful set closer “How To Disappear Completely,” the frenzied ending to “There There,” and the anthemic opus “Paranoid Android.”
Setlist (courtesy of www.ateaseweb.com):
01. 15 Step
02. There There
03. Morning Bell
04. All I Need
05. Lucky
06. Nude
07. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
08. The Gloaming
09. Optimistic
10. Videotape
11. Reckoner
12. Jigsaw Falling Into Place (Thom “Cool Beans”)
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 (Thom “Thank you very much NY & NJ. This one is dedicated to a very hectic city.”)
20. Paranoid Android
21. Dollars and Cents
22. Street Spirit
Encore 2
23. Cymbal Rush
24. Just
25. Everything In Its Right Place (Thom: “This one is dedicated to Underworld. They are a big influence on us.”)
SATURDAY
Saturday night belonged entirely to Radiohead as well. Animal Collective jammed out on songs from Strawberry Jam, and then Kings Of Leon provided the entertainment as fans began getting up front for Radiohead. Kings standout performance of the evening came in the form of new single “Sex On Fire,” promising a very strong 4th effort from the KOL lads.
Radiohead’s set again included 25-songs and spanned 2 hours and 15 minutes. This time the band played all 10 songs from In Rainbows (and “Bangers And Mash” from Disc 2 with Thom on drums), but changed up the rest of the set substantially. Again, the band seemed happy to be there, but spoke minimally. Overall, the energy from the crowd seemed stronger on Friday night. But Saturday’s set was nonetheless amazing. The greatest song from either night was most likely “Planet Telex” during the final encore. Other highlights from night 2 included “The Bends,” “Fake Plastic Trees,” and one of the best versions I’ve ever seen of “No Surprises.” Full setlist below:
Setlist (courtesy of www.ateaseweb.com):
01. Reckoner
02. 15 Step
03. The National Anthem
04. Kid A
05. All I Need
06. Nude
07. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
08. Where I End And You Begin
09. The Gloaming
10. Faust Arp
11. No Surprises
12. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
13. The Bends
14. Bangers and Mash
15. Everything In Its Right Place
16. Exit Music (For A Film)
17. Bodysnatchers
Encore 1
18. Pyramid Song
19. Videotape (False start. Thom, “I meant to do that.”)
20. Airbag (Thom dedicates to Kings of Leon. “If we were that good looking we’d be famous.”)
21. Fake Plastic Trees
22. There There
Encore 2
23. House of Cards
24. Planet Telex
25. Idioteque
Kings Of Leon
