Radiohead

Do you guys remember when this happened last quarter? I was blonde and Frances was crying. Good times.

In case you don't want to watch the whole video again, and have forgotten what happens from when I made you watch it last time, it basically just showcases the simultaneous elation and combustion of one Frances Russell trying to buy Radiohead tickets. After a brief moment of panic when it looked like we weren't going to get to go, myself, an admitted Billboard top 100 fan and all around Country Music listener, was able to wrangle together three tickets for their show in March. Had I ever listened to a full Radiohead song through? No. Did the fact that there was no real sing-a-long-able chorus in any of their songs kind of confuse me? Yes. But, my iPod and I are open to growth and maturity so I welcomed the idea of upping my cool factor by like 100 points and going to the concert. Plus, any concert with two of your best friends is fun, right? Right. Win, win.

Well, on Thursday, we went to the Radiohead concert in Atlanta and it was wonderful.

After shoving some clothes into our backpacks, we set out for ATL at around noon. Before we left we made sure to take some pictures of us being extra extra cool to get us in the right mindset for all of the extra extra cool people we'd be around later at the concert.

I made sure that I did not completely abandon my pop roots and made us listen to "Party in the USA" radio on Pandora for at least 50% of the drive. We braved an intense downpour on our way there that was actually so bad that we had to pull over for a few minutes to wait for the worst of it to pass. Spoiler: we survived.

After a quick pit stop at the mall (unsuccessful, but 100% necessary due to the fact that Savannah is highly lacking in that department) and an AMAZING dinner at JCT Kitchen, we found our way to Phillips Arena.

As we waited in line to get into the venue, it became clear to Claire and I were just visitors in this world of Radiohead die hards. Meanwhile, to our right, Frances had found her Mecca. It is really hard to explain how much Frances loves Radiohead.

They came on TWO HOURS after the promised start time, which, I guess, is just something that cool bands do, and put on an amazing show.

Here we see what Frances looks like when she's having a good time.

With two encores and plenty of long jam sessions, I would say that it was a highly successful concert. Frances remarked that they played mostly new stuff (or at least off the last two albums), which was a shame considering that, apparently, their earlier stuff os also great. 

Due to the fact that I only know one song out of their whole catalogue, I did not notice. 

We left in high spirits. I definitely felt cooler. And that I understood something about the world that people who hadn't gone to the concert clearly didn't. Like, I was apart of an elite club. But it was so elite, that it would never really describe itself as elite. 

Wait-- I just re-read that paragraph. The fact that I said "we left in high spirits" wasn't a sneaky sneaky pun/subliminal drug reference, just to be clear. I really just meant we left in a good mood... Promise, Mom. 

 ATLANTA BONUS: On the way home the next morning, we stopped at a Trader Joe's that might have been as exciting for me as the concert had been for Frances. There were mixed emotions of joy and sadness as I walked through the aisles buying all of my favorite goodies. Joy: Because I love TJ's. Sadness: Because I knew I couldn't stay there forever.