USA, D.C.: 9:30 Club - August 12, 1997

I got to the club at about 5:30 p.m. and was waiting outside for
the doors to open.  There wasn’t too many people there, maybe 30 or so.
 I heard them practicing Karma Police; it was beautiful.  Soon after,
someone noticed Phil across the street on a pay phone.  When he came
back, the girl in front of me and I asked for an autograph.  He was
extremely nice.  I got a picture with him and a friend of mine.  I asked
him if he would play "Motion Picture Soundtrack" for me.  He looked at
me with a questioning look and asked me where I had heard it.  I told
him that last time they were here, he played it for a local radio
station.  He was surprised to hear that I had known it and told me that
they would be unable to play it because they had not even recorded it in
the studio yet.  As people got autographs, I continued to talk to him
for a bit, then finally returned to my spot in line and waited, very
excited, for the doors to open.
        They finally opened the doors at about 7:45 and people rushed to
get up front.  A friend and I got in the center of the stage but behind
one row of people.  Lucky for us, they were there for Teenage Fanclub,
not Radiohead, so they left after Teenage Fanclub and we moved up front.
 I was directly in front of Thom Yorke’s microphone.  We waited very
long for them to come on.  But soon enough, the stage became black,
smoke filled the area, and "Fitter Happier" rang loud.  Toward the end
of the song, the band came out, Thom last, of course.  Everyone was
screaming, and I was going crazy.  The quickly broke out "Lucky" and
"Just."  They were so awesome. Jonny plays guitar so fucking well.
During "Just" Thom made horns on his head with his pointer fingers when
he said "Holy Cow" and "Purest Hell." They continued with "Airbag,"
"Planet Telex," and "Bullet Proof" in which he messed up, and he shook
his head, but he recovered well.  Meanwhile, I had been screaming "Thom
is GOD!" when it became quiet, and Thom pointed to me and said with a
giggle in his voice, "Man, you need to calm down!"  That was so fucking
awesome.  They continued to play "Climbing Up the Walls," "No
Surprises," and "Bones."  Thom had come up to me and shook my hand in
between songs, and then continued to shake other people’s.  They then
played "Electioneering" and "Fake Plastic Trees." I was screaming
"Motion Picture Soundtrack" in hopes that he would play it for me.
After "Electioneering,"  Thom heard me scream it again, and he stopped,
looked at me, got closer, and gave me a "What do you want to hear?"
look.  I screamed it again, and someone else just screamed.  Thom shook
his head and started playing "Fake Plastic Trees." He continued with
"Paranoid Android," "My Iron Lung," and "Exit Music." "Paranoid Android"
and "Exit Music" were played to perfection!  They finished their set
with "Nice Dream," "The Bends," and "Talk Show Host."  And Thom said,
"Thank You, Good Night!" The crowd was loud, and as expected, the band
returned quickly to play an encore.  Thom said, "This is a very old
song…." and they started the encore with "Lurgee."  Then they played
"Karma Police" which was fucking awesome.  Thom then said, "This last
one is dedicated to Teenage Fanclub because they were fucking briliant
and to the people in the back on the balcony.  We can still see you,
especially if you are doing this," and he stuck his finger in his nose
and they played "Street Spirits."  Then they went off.  There was a
woman sitting on a balcony that is for guests of the band only.  She
came down to the back of the stage where the band went off.  She saw
that I was a huge fan and she was signing to me to get the crowd louder.
 I started waving my hands up and down to the crowd.  I am a tall guy so
the people saw me and responded.  I had turned so that my right side was
facing the stage, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the woman rip
the setlist from the stage.  I turned to grab for it, but I thought I
would be too late, for many others had been grabbing for it.  She seemed
to be looking for someone, and that someone was ME!  She pointed to me,
and gave me Thom’s setlist.  I was going crazy!  The crowd was going
nuts also, so Thom came back on stage.  He pointed to me again and said,
"This song is definitely dedicated to this man right here!" and he
started singing, "White wine, and sleepin’ pills…." also known as
"Motion Picture Soundtrack."  He was fucking awesome.  Words cannot
explain it.  The rest of the band came out and they played "The Tourist"
and went off again.  The woman was there again signing to me to get
louder, so again I was waving my arms up and down.  And finally, they
came out and they were trying to find something to play.  I was asking
for "Pearly*" but they played "You" another fucking awesome song.  And
they were finally done for the night.
        After the show, my friend and I had been waiting out front for
two of our friends that had gotten backstage passes.  While we were
waiting, Phil came out and was talking to us.  Other people flocked over
and got autographs.  I was standing there talking to him.  He was really
nice.  He told me that I was obsessed but he said that that was good.
After talking to him for a while, he said, "You’ll have to excuse me. I
have to go in now."  And he left.  The people left also, so my friend
and I were standing there in front waiting for our other friends.  Then,
my friend said quietly, "Oh my god, there’s Thom Yorke!"  I said,
"Where?" and went to the door to get his attention.  The security guard
would not let me back in so I was calling Thom’s name.  He saw me and my
friend, pointed to me and said to the guard, let them in.  We went up to
Thom and the guard said, "NO TOUCHING!"  Thom gave the guy a "shut the
hell up" look and he held his hand out to me.  He signed my ticket stub
and my friend’s and talked to us.  I told him that he was GOD and a
genius.  He just smiled, shook his head, and said, "Thank you.  Thank
you very much for making my job worth while."  He was so fucking nice.
I kept saying he was awesome and he kept saying thank you.  He said to
me, "I can’t believe you survived up there.  Holy shit!"  He had to go
so I shook his hand again and said, "Keep writing your poetry because
it’s awesome…."  He liked the fact that I called his music poetry and
said again, "Thank you for making my job worth while."
        My friend and I went outside and waited again.  Colin came out
and talked to us.  He told me that they would be doing two more tours in
America on this album within the next year.  I am assuming that means
Spring '98 and around August '98, but I'm not sure.  Again, a crowd
developed to get autographs.  I was standing there talking to him.  It
seemed as though no one wanted to talk to them, they just wanted
autographs.  I was actually having a conversation with them.  After he
left the crowd went to the corner where a line was forming to get Jonny
and Thom to sign something.  I was in no real hurry to stand in line so
I waited in front again.  Ed came by and stopped to say hello and shake
our hands.  No one around had a pen so I didn’t get his autograph but he
was nice and spoke to us for a second.  Then I noticed that the line was
moving, so I went and got at the back of the line.  By the time I had
gotten up front, Jonny had gone into the bus and Thom was the only one
there.  I spoke with Thom for a little while and got him to sign my
setlist.  I continued to tell him how awesome he was and he just shook
his head and smiled.  He told me that he would get Jonny to sign the
setlist for me, so he went to the bus and got him to sign it for me.  My
friends and I were the last people left in the area before we left.
        I have to say that they were so much nicer than I had expected.
 Each one of them had a charm about them that would make you think that
they were the nicest guys in the world.  Anyone who is going to see them
is in for the time of their life.  Enjoy yourself!  Don't get messed up
because you will be missing out on one hell of a show.

    See you in Philie...
    Jason Brooke

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