Things have changed.  Ten years and a few masterpieces after the release of their groundbreaking album, Ok Computer, Radiohead are living in the moment, enjoying their work and performing as much as their fans. 

This time the guys decided to play a free gig at a record store.  Sure, Radiohead can just stroll into a little shop and play some songs, right?  Well, not exactly.  Faithful fans queuing up in large numbers forced the bobbies to intervene and insist that the gig be moved to a more secure venue.  A couple hours later than expected some crap camera view from the corner of a dive bar appears.  Fans with noses pressed against monitors around the world collectively sighed, “bugger.”  Yet, unlike the prior webcasts where stationary cameras captured the performances in studio, these views were up close and personal.   Thom and Co. wanted those viewing on the Internets to experience the claustrophobic view as well. 

Once again, Radiohead played every track on the first disc of In Rainbows.  Thom Yorke’s voice was spot on.  His range, pitch, and intonation are supernatural on tracks like "Nude."  The grossly underrated rhythm section was tight and succinct on "Reckoner."  Backup guitarist Ed O’Brien’s voice reminds you just how wonderful it is to have two layers of Thom’s voice on an album.  Lead guitarist and recently renowned composer Jonny Greenwood was an animal on the Fender.  I feel sorry for the necks and frets of those guitars.

After disappearing for a water break Thom returned with an acoustic guitar in hand and states, “Gonna play some other shit now because this is a gig isn’t it?”  Namaste.  He then plays an acoustic solo version of "Up on a Ladder," a performance too gentle to put into words. 

In prior webcasts Radiohead played nothing but new material, pushing the new album and teasing people into buying tickets for their upcoming tour, but to everyone's surprise they played some old material as well.  Starting off with "You and Whose Army," Thom used his timeless joke of taunting the crowd, inviting them to bring it on…a “very serious moment” for him.  Next was a somewhat bassless version of "The National Anthem," which may be their most powerful live track to date.  Two songs from The Bends closed the set: “My Iron Lung” and the title track.  Mocking himself and his old writing style Thom slurred through such lines as, “I wish it was the sixties; I wish we could be happy.”  This was a band living in the moment, truly loving their work and each other.

Ending the set with a song from Amnesiac one from Kid A and then two from The Bends illustrates how In Rainbows is an amalgam of all of their past work.  Things have certainly changed but one constant remains, Radiohead are the preeminent rock band of this generation.   
 
In case you missed it, or just want to listen to it again (and again), here it is in 320k mp3 format:  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LQWSAJ7W