12.03.2018

A review of Thom Yorke at Kings Theatre 11/27/18

I like Thom Yorke’s solo stuff better than his work with Radiohead.*
Leave now if you’d like.
I feel that, while Radiohead might have a deeper, fuller sound at times, Yorke’s solo work (The EraserTomorrow's Modern Boxes, and I'm including Atoms For Peace) is a truer representation of the man, unfettered by anything. What we hear is exactly what’s in his head. I’d also like to think that the visuals from his current tour, crafted and performed live by Tarik Barri, is what Yorke sees in his mind’s eye when creating that music. Even if that’s not the case, holy shit was this a mind-bending experience.
When I saw Atoms For Peace back in 2013, I was astonished at how low key their visual set up was. When I see clips from Radiohead shows, I feel the same way, but this recent tour was exactly what I would have expected and what felt the most fitting for this music and the man who composed it.
Standout moments from this exceptional evening included “Interference” as the somber opener, “Black Swan”, “The Clock”, two of the half dozen unreleased tracks, “Impossible Knots”, and “I Am A Very Rude Person”, that latter with a really fantastic, bright guitar line, and especially “Amok” and, most of all, “Default”. While the connection between the music and visuals was perfect on every track, things came to a head on “Default", the penultimate song. Just utterly breathtaking.
Yorke is set to release a new solo album in early 2019. Hopefully with these new tracks on it.
* Although, please don't get me wrong, I think they’ve got some legitimately amazing music in their catalogue.

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