JAN. 24 | HOLLYWOOD—It's only January, and within the first month of 2010 we may already be hosting Los Angeles' show of the year. Unfortunately it took a crisis of severe magnitude for this concert to take place. Radiohead took it upon themselves to host an intimate benefit show at the Henry Fonda Music Box to raise money for Haiti through an online auction on Ticketmaster. The auction finished this weekend with a minimum bid of $475+ per ticket and lots of happy bidders. As the funds of this benefit show go to Oxfam to help those in need in Haiti, many began their pilgrimage on Saturday to Los Angeles to attend the benefit once they secured their winning confirmation.
Radiohead fans who won Saturday's auction descended into Los Angeles from all over the world, while those who were in front of the line got there early Sunday morning. Avid local concertgoer Debi Del Grande of Los Angeles took the first spot in line, followed by Radiohead message board members Nicole Francisco and Jason Ludlow, who drove through the night all the way from Salt Lake City and slept in their car before the morning sun woke them from their slumber to nudge them into getting in line.
Luckily for Los Angeles, Radiohead is here recording their new album, allowing the city to host the benefit concert right here in our own backyard. Throughout the past week, Radiohead has been spotted around town catching some shows, including recent tour dates involving former members of Supergrass, Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey of The Hot Rats, at Spaceland and the Troubadour. Thom Yorke also has been seen taking residence at DJ booths around town, including a recent surprise appearance on Wednesday night at a fundraiser for Haiti at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, which was put on by The Voice Project and raised almost $50,000. Tonight, however, Radiohead had a larger fundraising goal in mind: to take the stage for a headlining show in support of Oxfam's relief efforts to assist the victims of the recent Haitian earthquake.
Sunday finally came, and I woke up way too excited to just wait at home and not do anything. I decided to go to the venue right before the doors opened, so I headed to Hollywood to check out the scene even earlier than anticipated. At the Henry Fonda Music Box, I got to see who made the decision to line up hours before will call opened at 4 p.m. I was curious to see the fans who shelled out hundreds of dollars to be part of a rare intimate show involving their favorite band. I met up with my photographers, who had lined up with friends since early that morning, and surveyed the landscape of tired faces, folding chairs, empty food containers and built-up anticipation while waiting for Goldenvoice employees to finish separating the many wristbands that each attendee would have to adorn in order to get into the venue.
The process of getting people their tickets with the right wristbands was done pretty quickly by CAA and Goldenvoice staff with the smart move of only giving tickets to those whose plus one is present to prevent scalping. That didn't stop a good number of ticketless Radiohead fans from standing outside, holding signs, begging for the slim chance that someone did come without a guest and they would be the lucky one chosen to join them in the venue. While waiting to get in, we noticed that the staff had put up the official poster for Radiohead's Oxfam benefit show with a $25 price tag. Designed by Kii Arens (pictured in photo), the collector's poster looked great with all the info concerning that night's show, artfully placed in a Radiohead Band-Aid container. This is definitely something I had my eye on, especially since the funds also go toward Oxfam's relief efforts in Haiti.
The time for doors to open drew near, and I quickly devised my strategy to get the commemorative poster and still get a good spot for the performance. With exact change in hand, the doors flew open, and I raced straight to the merch with my cash readily visible to the merch girl, who instinctively started wrapping a poster to hand off to me as if part of an Olympic relay. Cash and poster exchanged hands while I raced to the stage without missing a beat. Now that my location was taken care of, I turned around and surveyed my surroundings. The celebrities in the crowd were in full force, including Paul Thomas Anderson, Aziz Ansari, Patricia Arquette, Rosanna Arquette, Jessica Biel, Drew Barrymore, Daniel Craig, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Lisa Germano, Nigel Godrich, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Famke Janssen, Tony Kanal, Mia Maestro, Stephen Moyer, Anna Paquin, Maya Rudolph, Peter Sarsgaard, Charlize Theron and Justin Timberlake.
Since there was no opener, the Henry Fonda Music Box left the curtains open to reveal a stripped down set up for the show. There weren't the fancy lights from the In Rainbows tour, but a simple and intimate set up, as if it were any other band coming through Los Angeles. When the house lights went dark, cheers filled the air and those in the balcony stood in unison, all screaming at the sight of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood taking the stage.
The duo started the performance with a gorgeous rendition of "Faust Arp" from most recent release In Rainbows. It was a mellow beginning to the evening, but one that Radiohead fans nevertheless enjoyed. The rest of the band joined Thom and Jonny right after the duet. Thom then asked the audience to "sing along in case I forget the words" to a song most knew by heart, "Fake Plastic Trees".
Not withholding the hits, Radiohead segued into "Karma Police," and Thom commented, "We go to write some more techno." Three songs in, Thom asked the crowd, "So, what did you do to get the tickets? Borrowed money from Dad? Blackmailed your boss?" before performing another Radiohead hit, "Kid A." The audience likely noticed how energetic the band was on stage, especially Thom, who danced and moved all over the place, which was very reminiscent of last year's solo shows in Los Angeles. After "Kid A," Thom went to the right rear of the stage and offered the center stage to Jonny, telling his bandmate, "You can stand there then. You can be a flower!" Though the crowd cheers the lead guitarist on with chants of "Jonny," he appears unmoved by the peer pressure and moves only slightly to his left while fiddling with his pedals.
"How to Disappear Completely" was next, and it was one of the most beautiful renditions I've ever heard. In between songs, a fan in the crowd asked the band, "How much money did you make?" Thom responded, "We'll find out at the end," before beginning "Wolf at the Door," during which he may have intentionally forgotten some of the words, but the crowd didn't seem to mind his lapse in memory. Thom was probably right in asking the crowd early on to help him remember the words; it has been awhile since the In Rainbows tour after all. Overall, however, the band more than made up for it with a high-energy rendition of "The Bends," driving the audience wild.
My favorite In Rainbows track, "Reckoner," was performed, leading into OK Computer's "Lucky," which created a mellow tone in the theater. But that quickly changed with the more upbeat "Bodysnatchers" and then Amnesiac's "Dollars & Cents." Thom then decided to give the audience a choice of what to hear next. Fans could choose between OK Computer's "Airbag" or The Bends's "Just." There was a mix of yelling from the crowd, but the front portion of the floor was a bit more vocal in requesting "Airbag," so that's indeed what came next.
Radiohead then segued into "Exit Music (for a Film)." Relishing the beauty of the song, the crowd showed how visibly moved they were by the track selection. As the band left the stage, the crowd cheered loudly, and it becomes apparent that Radiohead would be back for an encore. But Thom returns alone and sits at the piano to play a solo rendition of "Everything in its Right Place." The crowd feels the stripped-down rendition of the song and breaks out with some timely clapping, all in unison and with much enthusiasm. The rest of the band returns shortly after to perform Amnesiac's "You and Whose Army." Keeping with the spirit of that album, "Pyramid Song" follows, with Jonny taking full advantage of an upright bass bow.
When the opening notes of In Rainbows's "All I Need" are heard, the audience falls silent, with the exception of some softly singing along to this heart-wrenching track. The serene sounds of the song drift over the venue, before the band leaves once again to a standing ovation. But Thom returns to the stage and tells the crowd that he's going to play a new song, stringing the chords to new Radiohead track "Lotus Flower," which he previously played during his solo shows in Los Angeles last year.
Once again the rest of Radiohead join Thom on stage for another OK Computer hit, "Paranoid Android," riling up the audience, who finger point in the air and yell the lyrics during key parts of the song. Thom then breaks the news we've all been waiting for. How much did Radiohead raise for Oxfam relief in Haiti? Thom pulls out a printed sheet of folded-up paper with the figures of how much money the concert made. He loudly exclaims, "Fuck Me!" with a bewildered expression, before announcing that $572,754 was raised for Oxfam's Haiti relief efforts. The largest donation per ticket was made by Peter Grousbeck at $2,000 a ticket. This leads to the closer, which freaks out the crowd once again as the opening chords of "Street Spirit" are played. The band was all smiles, waving goodbye to the crowd while exiting the stage. Thom relished in the moment by being the last member to slowly walk out, taking the shared moment of the event all in and then graciously walking out. Who knows when Radiohead will play such an intimate show again? Only time will tell. For now, there's money going to those in need in Haiti and Radiohead will now head back to work in the studio for a new record we hope comes in the very near future.
Set List:
Faust Arp Fake Plastic Trees Weird Fishes/Arpeggi National Anthem Nude Karma Police Kid A Morning Bell How to Disappear Completely Wolf at the Door The Bends Reckoner Lucky Bodysnatchers Dollars & Cents Airbag Exit Music (for a Film)
First Encore Everything in its Right Place You and Whose Army? Pyramid Song All I Need
Second Encore Lotus Flower Paranoid Android Street Spirit (Fade Out)
For those of you who missed Radiohead's show at the Henry Fonda Music Box, you can still get your Radiohead fix in a few months by catching Thom Yorke's performance live at Coachella on Sunday, April 18. You can also click below and donate what you can to any of these organizations to help Haiti in its time of need.
UPDATE: Kii Arens has designed a rare, numbered second edition of the poster that was sold at the concert. Only 250 were made for $75 each. All proceeds go toward aid in Haiti. Click here to buy yours today while supplies last!
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