The next Oasis?

Radiohead returned to the New York stage on Friday night (April 12) with a tight 90-minute set that featured selections from both of their albums, as well as a few new tunes.

The venue was the Roseland Ballroom, a quick walk down West 52nd Street from the bright lights of Broadway and Times Square. It's always weird being there. Roseland has been the site of some of the most energetic rock performances in recent years, but it's also the kind of place your parents would remember from their waltzing days. Ballroom dancing, in fact, still takes over the dance floor on Thursdays and Sundays, provided there's no gig scheduled by Ministry, Blur, or Ozzy.

On Friday night, though, it was all Thom Yorke and Radiohead. The lights went out at 9:20 PM, and a tape of Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" blended with the dry ice smoke to give the place a haunted feel. Guitars strapped on, places found, the band launched into "My Iron Lung" from last year's The Bends. As they reached the cranking guitar parts of the song, rays of white light behind Phil Selway's drum kit and two more banks of lights in the upper left and right corners took turns silhouetting the band in smoke and shadows.

Next was "Bones," with guitarists Ed O'Brien and Jon Greenwood jumping and pogoing around their respective left and right sides of the stage. Yorke, with his flaming red hair and matching red "Game Boy" T-shirt, then introduced a new song, which he didn't specifically name but which is believed to be called "Electioneering." It's a fast rocker -- dare we say danceable?

All the while, a crew from CNBC was in back videotaping the show, continuing through the fourth song, Radiohead's latest single "High and Dry." The CNBC folks wouldn't say when their footage will appear on TV -- not even whether it was for a piece on ballrooms turned rock palaces, or perhaps a report on British bands invading America.

"High and Dry" featured Yorke front and center on acoustic guitar, with his soaring vocals that continued through the night on tunes such as "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" and "Fake Plastic Trees." There were no spotlights the whole show, but some orange lights installed down front provided the band with an eerie glow for "High and Dry."

The second new tune, "I Promise," starts off slowly and then builds into an up-tempo rocker. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" has that menacing feel to it, which evidently the audience enjoyed, as measured by the number of bodies they passed overhead while Yorke sang.

When the quiet returned, Yorke took to the microphone and announced, "Enough of feeling sorry for yourself, this is 'Planet Telex.' " The strobes started flashing, and they absolutely cranked through the cut. Then they reached back to Pablo Honey for "Stop Whispering," the first of five they would play from their 1993 debut album.

For "(Nice Dream)," Yorke switched back to his acoustic. Then he traded it back for an electric and introduced "Lucky" as one of his favorites, which must have stumped many in the crowd who had never heard it before. It's Radiohead's contribution to last year's Help benefit album. For "Lucky," Jon Greenwood did double duty on guitars and synths, standing next to his controls on the right side of the stage, twiddling the knobs and playing the keys while still wearing his axe.

Radiohead then launched into another new tune, another medium-tempo effort called "Lift," which upon first listen sounds like it'd make a great single.

Yorke almost apologized in advance of the next tune, the band's breakthrough single "Creep." He said "we're still proud of this song," and evidently so were the 2,000 or so people jammed into the Roseland Ballroom. They continued the dissonance on "Anyone Can Play Guitar," then jumped into what was possibly their best performance of the night on "Just."

Two more tunes, the electric "Blow Out," followed by the acoustic "Fake Plastic Trees," and Radiohead said goodnight. In between that pair of tunes -- perhaps sick of his constant guitar swaps, Yorke simply dropped his electric on the stage and strapped on the acoustic for "Fake Plastic Trees." And of course he faultlessly hit the high notes, breaking into laughter towards the end as the girls in front sang along with him.

It was only a few minutes before they returned for "Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was," during which the crowd stopped their body surfing and instead held aloft their lighters in the best traditions of American stadium rock. Yorke then dedicated "Lurgee" to some girls he'd met before the show, explaining that the word was British slang for a cute girl. Last song -- or was it? -- was "The Bends," incredibly, the tenth tune played from the 12-track album of the same name.

They said goodnight again, and a few people started leaving, but the house lights didn't come on and the crowd continued their chanting. Someone asked the sound man if they were coming back, but all he could do was shrug. Return they did, though, thanking the crowd yet again for their attention and applause. With a smirk on his face, Yorke then launched into the theme from the James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me," backed in full electric regalia by the band. They left again, but this time the house lights did come on, and the show was over.

Outside in the crush at the doors, local radio station WXRK 92.3 FM (home of Howard Stern) was handing out hundreds of packets containing free condoms that had the K-Rock logo on one side and the cover art from "The Bends" on the other. On the edge of the packet was the explanation "our listeners come first."

—  Addicted To Noise New York correspondent Eric Arnum

[ Sun., April 14, 1996 12:00 AM EDT ]

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