Concert review: Atoms for Peace at the Aragon
The shaggy haired singer bounced, shimmied and vibrated around the stage of the Aragon on Saturday in the first of two sold-out concerts, transforming the haunted, anxiety-drenched songs on his 2006 solo album, “The Eraser,” into pulsing, hot-blooded dance workouts with his new quintet, Atoms for Peace.
The transformation was not unlike the one that took place in 2001 in Grant Park, when Radiohead turned the claustrophobic tunes on its “Kid A” album into expansive outdoor anthems.
With the bassist Flea (moonlighting from the Red Hot Chili Peppers) bobbing like a blue-green-haired rubber ball next to him, Yorke embodied the bolder rhythmic approach as if to defy the dire observations in his lyrics and his reputation as a self-serious artist. Yorke doesn't get this animated at Radiohead shows, but by channeling Bez of the Happy Mondays, he brought "The Eraser" to life in a way that didn't seem possible.
The excellent band helped his cause. Joey Waronker played skittering, slippery patterns on drums, while Mauro Refosco added layers of syncopation on various percussion nick-knacks, including a Brazilian bow. Nigel Godrich weaved glitchy computer and keyboard textures through the rhythmic web, creating a futuristic dance music that bridged techno, electro-funk and world music. The rhythms didn’t pound so much as undulate, complementing Yorke’s airy vocal melodies.
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