review

Canada, Montreal: Metropolis - August 22, 1997

        We arrived @ Metropolis @ 1130 so we could be in the front. We were
probably people 5-10 there, even though marie-helene and jean-francois left
around 1300. I met a few people, including one named Pablo who is very
nice. He had been to musiqueplus the previous day to meet thom and jonny
but hadn't got the chance because there were so many people there. So a bit
after marie and jf left we went to the back of the venue and were poking
around. He saw someone he thought was thom and yelled his name, of course
it wasn't him, but the bus driver of the bus that was there came out and
asked us who we were looking for. We replied that we were looking for the
band and he explained that the bus he was driving was the bus with all the
techs and roadies and stuff, and then he explained the whole schedule for
the day to us. He was very, very nice. So knowing when our boys would
arrive Pablo and I went back and waited in line some more.
        Around 1400, when the boys were to arrive, we went back to behind
the venue and waited for them. When the bus arrived there were only 10-15
people around and Pablo and I were right at the front. Thom was the first
one off the bus. He wasn't in a good mood at all, and he appeared to be
hungover (which wouldn't be surprising since they had the previous night
off). Pablo asked if he could have his picture taken with him and thom said
"what, do i have to do it?" Pablo said, "no you don't have to." and thom
replied, "no i shouldn't it's back for my head." but pablo still got to
shake his hand and stuff. I asked him what they were playing tonight and
thom was like " i don't know." and i asked if they'd play man-o-war and thom
said "we haven't played that in ages."
"it's a fucking good song," i said, "what happened to it?" thom said "we
tried it a couple a' times but never got a decent version recorded. we
haven't played it in ages though, so why the fuck would we play it tonight."
I asked him to give me his autograph anyway and he did.
        So thom wasn't being very nice, and then Phil stepped off the bus.
i went over to phil with our friends nancy and marissa who were already
talking to him. They told him about the sign that they made and so forth.
I don't recall as much of what phil said, but he was very, very nice. We
talked with phil for about five minutes too, so i don't remember much of the
conversation. thom finally got into the venue after talking to a couple
more people and phil followed him pretty closely. Phil is definately the
nicest band member.
        A minute or so after Phil went in ColinG came off the bus. He had
to get something out from in his bag in the cargo compartment so we got to
see what he was carrying. Nothing really, special, just basically anyone
would carry. We talked to him for a couple minutes too, and i asked him to
sign the book i was reading because i had nothing else. I had had thom and
phil sign it too, but colin took some interest in it (he did do literature)
and i talked to him about it for a minute or so (it was _nine stories_ by
D.J. Salinger). Nancy and Marissa got their picture taken with him and then
he went in.
        Jonny and Ed weren't on the bus so we didn't get to meet them, which
was dissappointing. We went back out and waited some more after that. jf
and scott arrived, followed later by marie-helene and finally the girl with
twelve of our tickets. Around 1840 a man wearing black, thick framed
glasses came out by the doors of the venue. after trying to figure out who
the man was we decided it was the missing stanley donwood, but upon talking
to him, found out he was Tim, the stage manager. Tim was extremely nice,
even nicer than phil. It was good that we decided to talk to him.
        around 1930 they opened the doors to the venue. and by that time we
had about 30-40 people in front of us who most definately had not been there
since 1130 that morning, which was rather frustrating but we still managed
to occupy the first and second human rows, right in between where thom and
ed would be. Teenage Fanclub was very bad. I must say that, they're not
the worst band out there but most of their songs are indistinguishable from
one another. The sound wasn't quite right either and the vocals were very
muddy. I thought that maybe it was because we were to close to the stage
and the vox came from the PA at the sides of the stage but radiohead proved
that wasn't true. Teenage Fanclub was simply not good. They had one song
that i liked, and i didn't like it a lot. There was very little pushing or
anything during their set which was nice.
        After they were done setting everything up, they dimmed the lights,
fired up the fog machines and commenced with fitter, happier. Towards the
end of the song they walked out and there was a lot of pushing.   They
played lucky first, and it was very good. Thom's voice sounded brilliant
and so did everything else, as usual.
        There were lots of people crowd surfing and after lucky thom asked
them, very politely to "refrain from crowd surfing." He also asked everyone
to stop pushing, which we were grateful for, even though it didn't make any
difference. It was definately very tight, which was sort of annoying, but
after a brilliant rendition of just, or maybe being kicked in the head by a
few more crowd surfers we pretty much forgot about it.
        airbag was next, followed by exit music. Finally everyone started
to calm down and the it wasn't quite so tight for awhile. Thom was
brilliant during Exit music, and we knew he was going to have a very good
night. Next they played Karma Police, which was greatly appreciated, and
everyone in the crowd sang along. Especially to the "this is what you get
part". I don't really remember much about each song in particular just them
all being amazing. Planet Telex was next and the pushing increased, along
with the crowd surfing. They changed this song around a bit and it sounded
brilliant.
        Thom, once again, asked everyone to stop crowd surfing and the
bouncers up front were getting pissed. Next was Climbing up the walls, with
colin playing bass synth, followed by no surprises, which included less
pushing and for some reason more crowd surfing. My Iron Lung followed and
went over huge with the crowd, ironically, they calmed down a bit during
these songs. Ed was wonderful during Paranoid Android. He was looking
right down at us when he was doing the percussive thing, then he did the
backing vocal where he sings away from the mic through his hands. I love
that part for some reason. Thom sang Fake Plastic Trees next and it was
brilliant. He hit the high notes absolutely perfectly and SO powerfully too.
        Next was Let Down. It was good but misses something without the
layered vocals. I suppose it's the best they can do, but it's not as good
as it could be live in my opinion. I guess ed can't sing high enough to do
the second voice or something, but i think if he did it would be wonderful.
I think ed has a very nice voice. It's not extraordinary like thom's is but
it's a lot better than some of the vocalists out there.
        Creep was next. Again, crowd surfing increased. Thom came to the
front of the stage during this song and someone that had just crowd surfed
up looked up at him. Thom got right in his face and gave him the finger. I
think the message was very clear and we all cheered with Thom smiled back at
us. thom stopped singing during the last chorus and left it up to the
crowd. we happily obliged.
        During Bones it struck me that jonny had played brilliantly but had
not been nearly so active or visible as he used to be. I think all of the
little bits he has to do are wearing on him. He's definately not as
energetic when he plays his guitar. He no longer kneels during bones to
play with the effects, however, so they've figured something new out.
        Talk Show Host was next and Thom really enjoyed this one. He really
looked like he was having fun this evening. So did Ed. It looked like Ed
was having great fun when they played the bends. Thom dedicated it to
Teenage Fanclub, who didn't deserve such a good rendition. Thom's changed
the middle 8 a little bit and it sounds really cool. And at the conclusion
they walked off the stage to much applause. The noise did not die one bit
for about 5 minutes. Everyone kept asking the Bouncers for water, especially
this really big bald guy who was very nice. He asked Tim, the stage manager
and he got them to bring out some boxes that they passed out to the crowd.
Tim is a great guy.
        Eventually they walked back on and we got even louder. We held up
the sign we had made before the show requesting some songs. Thom cocked his
head and looked at it. He said "we'll get to those later," so we put our
sign away. Next they played Subterranean Homesick Alien with thom playing
the in between where jonny and colin are. Colin comes to the front of the
stage where thom normally is and you get a really good view of him. After
Ed, colin is the second most fun to watch. I think it's because you really
don't see much of him.         Next was Bulletproof which was absolutely
fantastic. Then thom said, "here's a loud song for you" and they played
polyethylene. It was funny because no one knows the words to that, except
me, so i was singing and everyone else that had sang through the whole show
had stopped. Street Spirit was next and included lots of very off-key
singing by the crowd, but thom's voice drowned everything out. Once again
they walked off the stage.
        Once again no one let up cheering until thom came back onstage by
himself. I was standing right behind marie-helene, who was in the front row
and i swear to god he pointed right at her. I don't really know why. Nancy
said earlier that he had seen me kiss her during one of the earlier songs so
that could be it. No one else seems to remember it but me, but i remember
it so clearly.
        So thom proceeded to play Killer Cars. It was very nice and
everyone loved it. People started to get out their lighters like they had
previously a couple times, but this time, there were many more apparent.
Thom looked very very happy, in bold contrast to the cranky, hungover look
he had before the show earlier that afternoon.
        After thom finished the rest of the band walked back onstage and
colin said something in french that i didn't quite catch, because my french
is rather limited, but everyone else did and they cheered very loudly. Ed
looked like he was enjoying himself a lot and was smiling ear to ear. Thom
said "There are only so many songs we can remember, and this is one of
them." I'm pretty sure that comment was directed at me. Then they played
you. I feel really sorry for jonny during this one because he has to play
guitar and keyboard with the neck of his guitar. Ed really enjoyed himself
during this one and it sounded really good.
        After the conclusion of you they walked off stage once again. We
cheered really, really loudly and did not let up. After screaming at the
top of my lungs for a couple minutes thom walked back onstage, once again by
himself. He looked down at Nancy, who was holding the sign and said "Most
of you haven't heard this song, but this girl up front with sign has and she
wants to hear it, so this is for her." Thom then played Motion Picture
Soundtrack and messed up all the words from the previous versions i had
heard. He sang "Red wine and sleeping pills, help me get back where i
belong. White wine and cheep sex, help me get back to your arms" which
sounded kind of funny. But his voice was the most beautiful i have ever
heard it. He sang so delicately yet so strongly all at the same time. It
was simply amazing.
        Thom walked off stage with everyone cheering like crazy but they
soon turned the house lights on and we knew it was over. Being at the front
we had to stay there a bit and we were waiting for Tim to walk onstage.
Everyone was calling for the setlist. The bald guy said he couldn't touch
anything until the techies were on stage. When tim walked out we all yelled
to him. He got the setlist and came to the front of the stage. everyone
was reaching out for it. Then he pointed at nancy and the people next to
her were like "me?" and he shook his head, he pointed at nancy again.
Someone else though he meant him, but he didn't. He pointed at nancy again
and she made a gesture meaning "me?" and he nodded and reached out and gave
her the setlist.