The best 2009 Grammy performances

Here's a round-up of videos from last night's Grammy Awards for those who missed it or just didn't care to sit through the three and a half hour show. These are what I consider the best performances from last night. Radiohead doing "15 Step" with the USC marching band is quite awesome. Some of the videos are not the greatest, but the internet police are trolling YouTube removing some of the better videos. With that said, enjoy.

Radiohead w/ USC Trojan marching band - "15 Step"


Paul McCartney w/ Dave Grohl - "I Saw Her Standing There"
Click here to watch video.

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - "Rich Woman" & "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)"


Coldplay w/ Jay-Z "Lost+" & "Viva La Vida"


M.I.A., Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne & T.I. - "Swagger Like Us"

New Radiohead video, "House of Cards"

The fabled Radiohead music video that everyone's been talking about has finally been released. Why has everyone been talking about it you ask? Because the video uses no cameras. Thom Yorke and the other people and places in the video were captured using 3D plotting technology called Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. If you're just scratching your head right now, well so am I? Just watch the second video below after watching the video. It's a "making of" piece that explains some of the elements of the video. It's pretty neat.

Radiohead in Charlotte

While Kanye West played in the Triangle Friday night, alternative rock's biggest band played a sold out show in Charlotte at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

Radiohead took the Queen City by storm. (Literally. Just ask the people on the lawn who saw lightning flashing overhead.) The band played a two hour set that was heavy on In Rainbows. The band played 7 songs from their most recent album as well as two songs from disc two of the infamous In Rainbows discbox. The song "Bangers and Mash" featured dual drummers. Thom Yorke played a small drum kit wheeled out on stage. "Bangers and Mash" is a great live song. Other highlights of the night included "Myxomatosis," "Exit Music (For a Film)," "Sail To the Moon" and "Idioteque."

The biggest crowd reaction came when the band broke out a few classics. "Planet Telex" from The Bends was phenomenal and "Paraonoid Android" was as intense as ever.

The only downside of the night was the lack of many older tunes. "Planet Telex" was the only song from The Bends played all night, though the song "Talk Show Host" is from that era (it was a b-side for "Street Spirt (Fade Out)." As someone seeing Radiohead for the first time, it would've been nice to hear a few more older songs.

Thom Yorke is truly a sight to behold. The energy and passion that he exudes while on stage is amazing. As he dances and flings about throughout the night, I found it hard to take my eyes off of him. The whole band seems to truly love being on stage and that made the show even better.

In the spirit of staying green, the band's on stage lighting consisted of florescent and LED lighting that's energy efficient. The lighting did not suffer though. The lighting and use of five screens on stage behind the band only enhanced the music.

If you have a chance to see Radiohead live, do it! They are one of the best bands around.

On a political note, before playing "Sail to the Moon," it sounds like Thom Yorke endorsed Barack Obama. He dedicated the song to "the good people of North Carolina" and then said something about Obama. Check out a video here, where there are numerous interpretations of what he said.

Setlist
All I Need
There There
Airbag
15 Step
Nude
Sail To the Moon
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Myxomatosis
Idioteque
Morning Bell
Videotape
Optimistic
Where I End and You Begin
You and Whose Army?
Everything In Its Right Place
Bangers and Mash
Bodysnatchers
----------
Go Slowly
Talk Show Host
Exit Music (For A Film)
Planet Telex
House of Cards
----------
Paranoid Android
Reckoner

Charlotte Radiohead tickets now on sale

Radiohead tickets are on sale NOW. They just went up moments ago on W.A.S.T.E., the band's official ticket page.

Happy clicking!

Radiohead tour details announced

Radiohead has finally filled in the blanks on their North American tour schedule.

Last month the band released a list of American cities that they would hit on an upcoming tour with no dates or venues. Some of those details are now in, including the Charlotte date. It will be at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on May 9. Tickets will go on sale this Saturday, February 16 at 10 a.m.

Here's the schedule for the tour as it stands now.

May 5 - West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre
May 6 - Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheatre
May 8 - Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre
May 9 - Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
May 11 - Bristow, VA - Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge
May 14 - St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
May 17 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mithcell Pavilion
May 18 - Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center

That's 8 of the 22 cities announced a month ago. The rest should be announced soon.

Radiohead to come to NC

UPDATE: Click here for dates and full details.

Radiohead announced that they plan to tour North America in 2008, but only released a list of cities. Leave it to Radiohead to once again tease fans by only releasing a list of cities, no venues or dates. Well, Raleigh didn't make the cut (no surprise), but Charlotte did. So all you Radiohead fans get ready to make the trip to Charlotte.

Here's the complete list of North American tour stops.

Atlanta
Boston
Charlotte
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Houston
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
Miami
Montreal
New York
Philadelphia
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Seattle
St. Louis
Tampa
Toronto
Vancouver
Washington, DC

Stay tuned for more details.

In Rainbows snags #1 spot [UPDATED]

Even though Radiohead released In Rainbows online via the "pay what you want" model in October, the album still topped the Top 200 album charts during it's first week on shelves.

The album sold over 122,00 units. Oddly enough, it is reported that about 25% of the album's first week sales were digital downloads.

Though 122,000 units sold is good opening week for a record, it is safe to say that by releasing the album on January 1, there was little to no competition for the #1 spot. Alicia Keys' album, As I Am, came out in November has already sold over 3 million units and sold another 112,00 during the first week of 2008. Radiohead squeaked by Alicia Keys by approximately 10,000 records.

Radiohead's 2003 album, Hail To the Thief, sold over 300,000 copies in it's first week on shelves.

In Rainbows prematurely entered the top 200 chart a week early at #156 due to "street date violations." Apparently, more places than Circuit City in Cary put the album on shelves early but unlike Circuit City, other retailers were actually selling the record.

Circuit City goofs on "In Rainbows"

Radiohead's In Rainbows was undoubtedly one of the most talked about releases in music this year. But, as of yet, it's not available in stores. Unless you live in Cary.

The Circuit City at Crossroads had six copies of the album on the shelf this evening.

However, Circuit City's computers were smarter than the staff who put the album out in the first place and wouldn't let the clerk at customer service ring it up.

Better luck next time, I suppose. The CD will be officially released Tuesday, Jan. 1.

New Radiohead album out in ten days

Radiohead have annouced via their website that their new album is finished and will be released digitally in ten days. The album is called In Rainbows and will be exclusively available via inrainbows.com. You can pre-order the album now.

Buyers have two options. One is the album download only which will be available on October 10. The second option, is being called the "discbox." The set will include the album download on October 10 plus the album on CD and two 12-inch heavyweight vinyl records. The "discbox" will also include a second CD which will contain more new songs along with an enhanced feature that will have photos and artwork. It also includes artwork and a lyric book. All of the "discbox" items will be encased in a hardback book and slipcase. All of the "discbox" items will ship on or before December 3.

The "discbox" set will be £40.00 which is approximately $81.00. It's a little steep, but you get tons of cool stuff. Here's the crazy part. How much is the download only you ask? You get to name your own price. No, you really get to name your own price. It's quite ballsy of Radiohead. I'm not sure if there is a minimum. Theoretically, you could pay £.01 or quite possibly nothing.

Here's the album tracklist for the album:
15 STEP
BODYSNATCHERS
NUDE
WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI
ALL I NEED
FAUST ARP
RECKONER
HOUSE OF CARDS
JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
VIDEOTAPE

Here's the tracklist for the bonus CD that is included with the "discbox":
MK 1
DOWN IS THE NEW UP
GO SLOWLY
MK 2
LAST FLOWERS
UP ON THE LADDER
BANGERS AND MASH
4 MINUTE WARNING

For those who don't know, Radiohead's contract ran out with their last album, Hail to the Thief. The release of In Rainbows is like a big middle finger to the record industry. Without the label red tape, they are album to release the album as soon as it's done, on their own. Radiohead has been set free and are setting out to break all the rules.

So what do you think, is this the wave of the future?