Show review: Thom Yorke Band, Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, Oct. 4

Standing ovations typically come at the end of a performance, but Thom Yorke was greeted with one before he even launched into his first song Monday at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Needless to say, this was no ordinary concert. Yorke drew a mega-sold-out crowd of eager Radiohead fans, some with Hollywood faces, to the debut show (after a warm-up gig Friday at the Echoplex) of his new, non-Radiohead backing band formed to realize his solo material live and possibly/probably/undoubtedly collaborate with otherwise. ??????, as the marquee out front deemed the group without a name, pairs Yorke with bassist Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck/dozens of bands' drummer Joey Waronker, Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco, and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich "on everything else," as Yorke put it. With such a stellar batch of musicians up on stage, it wasn't surprising that the show's execution proved to be as exciting as its concept. The band ran through Yorke's 2006 album The Eraser in its entirety, each song getting a face-lift of sorts: the soft electronic glitchiness of the record was replaced by more rhythmic, carnal sounds in this live incarnation. Tracks took an altogether different shape under Yorke's beefed up rhythm section. “The Clock” lost its urgent ticktock and morphed into a menacing amalgam of bass and percussion; “Black Swan,” still retaining all of its despondent glory, fell under a spell of Refosco's tribal beat; and “Skip Divided" made the biggest transformation of all, with Yorke's ominous hum on the album replaced by Flea's melodica for a mysterious Middle Eastern feel, the song stripped to its barest of parts. Just before the latter song, Yorke prompted the crowd to stand. After all, The Eraser was intended to be a dance record and what, did the audience want to continue to act as if it were at the cinema? It seemed as if Yorke couldn't stop dancing. As he alternated between jumping on the piano, jumping on the guitar, and just plain jumping, he flitted around the stage like a madman infected with some sort of can’t-keep-still bug, even slithering his hips like Elvis during the more grooved up parts. And Flea was Flea, which is to say that he was rocking and bobbing onstage the entire time and a total badass on bass, breathing life into songs like "Harrowdown Hill" and the new Yorke track "Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses." As if the show wasn't special enough, what with the surprise backing band, the performance of The Eraser album, new songs and a rendition of Radiohead B-side "Paperbag Writer," which Yorke dedicated to Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood sitting in the audience, Yorke also played three new tracks on his own during the encore, two of which, "Open the Floodgates" and "Super Collider," Yorke played back-to-back on piano. The peak of the show came at the beginning of the encore with "Lotus Flower" a.k.a. "Moon Upon a Stick" (Yorke hasn't decided yet), a chill-inducing piece Yorke has been working on with Radiohead. Just Yorke's beautiful melody and an acoustic guitar, the song harkened back to Radiohead B-side “Follow Me Around.” Here's a pretty high-quality video of "Lotus Flower" shot by YouTuber Methanosktrr at the following night's show: Monday was a special night - for Yorke, Flea, Waronker, Refosco, Godrich, and most of all, the audience. Setlist The Eraser Analyse The Clock Black Swan Skip Divided Atoms For Peace And It Rained All Night Harrowdown Hill Cymbal Rush Yorke solo encore: Lotus Flower (Moon Upon A Stick) Open The Floodgates Super Collider Encore with band: Paperbag Writer Judge, Jury & Executioner The Hollow Earth Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses

Pure giddiness: Thom Yorke's playing two shows in L.A. on Oct. 4-5

Ladies and gentleman, prepare your fingers for clicking on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. Thom Yorke announced he'll play Eraser songs + more at two intimate shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles this Sunday, Oct. 4 and Monday, Oct. 5, with tickets onsale Tuesday on Ticketmaster. Yorke's put together quite the backing band for these dates-- Joey Waronker, Mauro Refosco, Flea and Nigel Godrich (all cozy in the above pic). About 2,000 lucky spectators each night will have the privilege of catching one of these rare non-Radiohead Yorke performances. May the force be with you.

Get smitten: "All For the Best" by Thom Yorke

Yeah it's a cover song, but it's still the best thing I've heard all year.

Album review: Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti... Is Skyscraper

Interpol singer/guitarist Paul Banks takes a vacation from the land of four-piece bands on his solo debut as Julian Plenti, Julian Plenti... Is Skyscraper. Banks, or should I say, Plenti, takes the dark, post-punk rock sound of his dayjob group and perverts it with layers of piano, synth, acoustic guitar, strings and drum machine on the album's 11 tracks. Here Banks revives the part of the sexy cad on gloomy pop gems like "Games For Days," where he employs his commanding baritone, but also plays the role of Mr. Lonely on downcast tracks like "Madrid Song." "Only If You Run" gets my vote for being the album's best track, but maybe that's because I'm a sap. With its familiar but endearing melody, it's one of the best mac 'n' cheese songs of '09. Stick a fork in me. There are messy parts, too. I just can't get into "Fun That We Have," which sounds like instruments competing rather than meshing, while "Fly as You Might" crash lands into stilted drum machine oblivion. And survey says "Girl on the Sporting News" shouldn't have made it into the studio if only for its lyrics: “Girl don’t buy that dress on lonely street.” Indeed. This isn't an album to really sink your teeth into, but it's worth a listen for fans of dark Interpol-style music, obviously. And with today's announcement that Banks will tour far and wide this fall as Julian Plenti, it was also learned that a San Francisco stop is planned for Nov. 18 at the Great American Music Hall.

Awesome shows in San Jose this week!

I barely check MySpace anymore but I did for the first time in a couple weeks and discovered ... the most fantastically sickest of the ickest band around these here San Jose parts *Worker Bee* is playing a free show at the Blank Club on Wednesday, July 8. It's also a record release show, hallelujah. The new stuff is freaking evolved & amazing loveliness. Kids best recognize. and my favorite San Diego band *Lanterns* is actually playing a show in San Jose on Thursday, July 9 @ someplace called Smile Factory. It's their second stop on a pretty long cross-country tour, so South Bayheads should take advantage.