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Thom Yorke decided to welcome me to the West Coast by announcing completely unexpected solo shows in Los Angeles within a month of my move. After an easy fight with Ticketmaster (one that paled in comparison to the Echoplex Ticketweb meltdown), I managed a couple of “paperless” tickets that actually aren’t paperless and don’t get me started. I received a text message before the show from a friend telling me to “have fun.” I explained that Radiohead fun is different from the regular kind. Radiohead fun involves mild tension, some anxiety, and sweaty palms. Solo Thom Yorke fun on the other hand, well…still involves those things, but it also involves a lot of dancing.

“I did make a dance record,” said Thom halfway through the Eraser portion of the show (the entire album was performed in track order), “So, if you want to sit there like you’re at the cinema, that’s fine.” For the first of two nights at LA’s Orpheum Theater, the set was identical to Friday’s Echoplex show with the exception of the unreleased Radiohead song, “Super Collider.” The 2000 seat venue was packed with celebrities like Anne Hathaway and Edward Norton and a bunch of other people with worse seats than me (kidding, but not).

Thom, as well as band-mates Flea, Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, and Mauro Refosco walked on stage at almost 9pm on the dot, and Thom headed right for the piano to start The Eraser’s title track. The type of energy of the performance shifted back and forth with Thom’s trips to the piano (which was positioned to the side of the stage and facing away from the audience), but his intensity was steady as ever; mostly with lots and lots of his signature flail-heavy dancing. The on stage chemistry between him and his new band-mates was comparable to that of Radiohead. Aside from having to play the melody on the piano to remind Waronker how a song went, the show was flawless. Flea was perfect as expected, delivering the intricate Eraser basslines as if they were his, bringing out the element of funk that is somehow a bit washed out on the recordings. He owned “Black Swan” in particular.

At 40 years old (with a birthday this week, actually), Thom is in the best shape of his life (but kept his shirt buttoned this time). His presence was electric (as it often tends to be), and, once he got everyone up with the cinema comment, they were up for the night. It was impossible not to dance along awkwardly to the Eraser songs, which translated live as trippy, electronic jam-band tracks. You could have heard a pin drop as Thom performed much of the encore on his own, which included new/old rarities, “Open the Floodgates,” “Lotus Flower,” and “Super Collider.” The closer, new track “Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses,” was like a 7 minute salvia trip of synthesizers and percussion, with Thom and his unnamed co. completely lost in the music, and me with my sweaty palms.

Below is the setlist, video of “Open the Floodgates”/”Super Collider,” “Black Swan,” and “Harrowdown Hill,” some fuzzy photos from the night, and Thom’s autograph on my Eraser vinyl. (!!!!!!)

The good bits without the bullshit and no heartache.

“The Eraser”
“Analyse”
“The Clock”
“Black Swan”
“Skip Divided”
“Atoms For Peace”
“And It Rained All Night”
“Harrowdown Hill”
“Cymbal Rush”

Encore:
“Lotus Flower”
“Open The Floodgates”
“Super Collider”
“Paperbag Writer”
“Judge, Jury & Executioner”
“The Hollow Earth”
“Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses”

“Open the Floodgates”/”Super Collider”

“Black Swan”

“Harrowdown Hill”