Wow, what a Charley Foxtrot that was…..
Did I ever mention that I heart Radiohead sooooo much that I even went as far to tattoo their logo on my back?
Well, I do. When they play a live show, it’ freaking amazing, I try never to miss it. Except when acts of God seem to figure in. For any Radiohead fan in the DC metro area, Bull Run comes to mind. We all know this sad sad sad story.
When they announced their DC area show was going to be at the Nissan Pavillion in Bristow VA, Both Mister Fatman and I (who Met HERE, BTW) decided, Fuuuck No. We weren’t going to drive to NoVA, no matter HOW much we love Radiohead. Screw that.
The venue is not very close to DC. In fact, it’s about an hour away, in the middle of a few civil war battle fields and some Exurb neighborhoods. There is only one road that leads to it–simply a wonder in high volume civil engineering. It’s no wonder that a freakish monsoon like rainstorm came barreling in and pretty much fucked every single fan coming to see the show.
The band hasn’t had very much luck with the DC area. Each time hey play here, for some reason, an act of god occurs just fucking shit up. The band has even acknowledged this. I did have friends attending the show as well. They never made it.
What is probably the most infuriating part about the situation is the band’s pledge to make their shows more “green”. They announced before this tour had started they intended on playing venues that were accessible by mass transit.
So, after hearing this—WTF?!?!?!!?!? If Radiohead has made quite a name for themselves by producing and distributing their own album, why can’t they make better decisions on the venues they’re playing at? Do they NOT make the final decisions on the tour stops? if Thom boasted about this decision, why didn’t they play IN DC PROPER where the mass transit is more then adequate to handle thousands of people for an event. if they like the outdoor venues, then SHIIIIT—play Pier Six Concert Pavilion in FUCKING BALTIMORE. Same size—in a metro area, accessible by mass transit.
I love the band. I do–but this, playing in this SHIT venue in the middle of the exurbs of DC is a major faux pas given the decision to “be more green”. I think the band needs to say something about this, especially if enough people actually start squawking about it. People paid to see them—and they never made it because of the location of the venue.
Only accessible by vehicle.
May 14th, 2008 at 8:23 am
As one of the 25,000 people involved in that clusterfuck, I was very saddened to have what should’ve been an amazing show featuring one of my favorite bands of all time ruined by nature and inept staffing.
However, it looks like LiveNation’s making it up. I shot their customer service e-mail a message, detailing the troubles I faced…and they’re sending me complementary tickets to Radiohead’s show in Camden, NJ (near Philly) on 8/12. Kind of a class move, imo.
May 14th, 2008 at 10:26 am
That is cool, BTW. I still can’t wrap my head around the ultimate decision to play at this venue—only accessible by car on a “Green Tour”
May 14th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I think their choice of venue wasn’t just based upon “green”, it was best available options for major metropolises that could be the most green.
I think of areas they could play….RFK would use more electricity….Merriweather probably couldn’t accommodate nearly enough people and most likely would have the same accessibility issues as Nissan…and there was a campground location they tried back in 2001 which was flooded out.
They have an entire section of their site dedicated to the decision making process, which will apparently update as the tour goes on with indepth information on their attempts to go green on a venue by venue basis. It’s worth a read.
That’s located here: http://www.radiohead.com/themostgiganticflyingmouthforsometime/