Monday, March 12, 2012

Nerd Nite 4.0 Preview / Guest Review: Allison vs. Radiohead in Kansas City

Nerd Nite is back on Tuesday for it's fifth installment (though it's nerdily titled Nerd Nite 4, since nerds start numbering with zero). Let's see what's on the agenda this time:

"Notes from the Native American Space Agency (NASA): Building the Fastest Wooden Rocket in the World" by Lucas Miller

"Sushi in America: Mostly Misconceptions, Some Out-right Lies" by Elwood Schaad

"I Feel The Need, The Need for Seeds: An Exploration of 'The Bracket" by Laura Watkins and Kevin Baker


We're particularly excited for the timely bracketology discussion for a number of reasons: (1) it has the goofiest title, (2) it's the first collaborative presentation of the Larryville Nerd Nites, paving the way for Richard and Chip's eventual (inevitable) presentation on dick jokes, and (3) we're Twitter-buddies with Laura Watkins, who also writes the cool Late to the Movies blog (we once wrote the prologue for her post on Videodrome).

We're also told the new issue of Nerd Nite magazine will be on hand, which contains a piece about "the strange and fascinating world of penis morphology." Imagine how excited we are about that! Then double it, and you'll begin to have a sense of our excitement level.

Here's the cover of Nerd Nite Magazine, Vol. 2:




















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Chip gave up on Radiohead early on, secure in the knowledge they could never top "Creep." Richard lasted through Kid A, then got tired of bleeps and bloops, which he tends to prefer only when used in a very twee fashion (see: Transmittens). But chances are that most of you today are at work with at least one person who went to last night's KC show and is currently describing it as "epic" and/or "transcendent."

But what did our friend Allison think? Find out below (it's actually quite similar to Chip's criticism of most contemporary rock bands: "Give me something I can DANCE to!").


RADIOHEAD: THE CONCERT

I have missed Radiohead by days, hours in the past. I wasn’t able to make it to their Bottleneck show in’95. I missed them by a day in Tokyo. There was talk of seeing them as part of APW a couple of years ago, but I hate festivals. So this was it finally seeing Radiohead live, in concert.

When the opening band did a quick 30 minute set I got excited. That meant that Radiohead was allotting at least 2.5 hours if not 3. I was ready. The show started out as I figured it would, lots of the new music. Tranquil, napping music. Let’s face it people, Amnesiac was the beginning of the end of the great rock from Radiohead. I’m not saying the new stuff isn’t enjoyable, but seriously how does one dance to it? If you were the girl in front of me the answer is spastic with elbows to my face; the guy behind me a gentle head bob.

The house lights came up during one number which woke me up a bit, but overall the entire first hour was nothing more than a nice warm up. The real show started with the encore. The light screen was finally used in a more dramatic way. Unfortunately the first encore was only 5 songs, while the second was a short 2. Total playing time for Radiohead came in just over an hour forty-five. This from a band with nearly 20 years of music. Shocking, appalling not worth the $70 and sexual harassment of the floor seats.

A note on the stage design. There was a light board directly behind the band with movable screens. So much could have been done with this. What did we get? Repeating patterns and shots of the band. Le sigh. Beck had a similar set-up 4 years ago and did more with it, as did Thievery Corporation. Overall Radiohead, you were nothing but a disappointment.

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