Radiohead of the World

last night peter and i went to radiohead at the hollywood bowl. i knew it was going to be horn-swoggling fun, but there were some delights even i hadn't anticipated.

i've now learned for myself that only at a radiohead concert can you:

-hear the featured artists "get over themselves and play their biggest freaking hit, karma police."

-buy a shirt (green in eco make-up and yet gray in human eye absorption) that says, "you used to be alright, what happened to you?" i would definitely wear that on a date with michael jackson...if he ever asked me on one...and if i were ever loopy enough to accept....)i was going to wear it to work today but it smelled kind of funny...see next....

-sit in, and i mean no exaggeration to befall this sentence, a thick cloud of pot the entire time. hold on, i'll be right back, i gotta go buy another bag of doritos. ooooh, and maybe some twinkies....

-have your mind blow over the lack of muffin tops. it laughs in the face of the long honored tradition that is attending a concert and spotting oozing amounts of people who prefer to ooze out of their pants. what, don't radiohead fans like to eat?

-see your very own fist fight after the concierto. i hadn't seen one since 8th grade!

-spot an RULDS2? couple. this was done after careful analysis and deductive reasoning. young, fleece (for him), 3 sizes too small shade top (for her), BYU bling, peaceful of countenance, short hair and clean-shaven. if we're going into details i'd have to also say they hail from texas or south jordan. i don't know how i know, i just know.

-be sucked into a vortex of high school nostalgia when they play the song from baz' romeo and juliet.

-see a girl whose outfit involved items i'd never thought could be clothing. her demeanor reminded me of luna lovegood from harry potter, and when she and her posse reached their seats' row she turned her head ever so slightly toward me and said in an ethereal voice, "tight."

-peter adds this one: "and the domino-like phenomenon of one person standing up in the front and then hundreds behind him / her have to stand up in order to see the stage." and wouldn't you know it, there were a few people a few rows ahead who drank, oh i'd guess, 5 million redbulls before the show, so they were shakin' what their mamas gave them like ravers from 1997 from start to finish.

the concert was genius. absolute genius. i intend to share a better slice in a moment. but there was a dollop of whipped cream for the evening's end:

because parking was stacked, we weren't exactly sprinting to the car after their 2nd encore finished. we sat to people watch, as there is no better circumstance under which to participate in said activity. right in front of us, dispersing leaflets to the masses, was this dude. he was saying to everyone, "halloween! lie to your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband about what you're wearing! halloween! lie to your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband about what you're wearing!" after a few rounds he'd start speeding it up, and then he'd slur it and trip over his words...and then he wouldn't finish the ad campaign. he'd kinda let it drizzle like a "niner" and then start over. the tragic hilarity of it is he spotted us watching him and he came over and half-whispered, "i know it sounds crazy, but i say it and they take the flier." i loved the dude justifying his chosen path of employment. meet halloween guy:radiohead, i salute you.