You know one of those rare shows when the band stops playing, and they turn on the house lights and the muzak, to try and get people to leave, but nobody, not one single person, fucking does? Yeah, it was like that.

Sometimes you need something like this. Something real. Something authentic. Something that cuts through the pretentious bullshit that seems to permeate every facet of modern life. This is what Thom Yorke, and the super group that he assembled, Atoms for Peace, achieved on just under two hours in Oakland California last night.

The setup was simple. They play great music, and we tremendously enjoy it. No fake theatrics. No lip sync. No bullshit. Over the course of the evening, they covered all the best parts of Thom's solo album, \"The Eraser\", including: \"And It Rained All Night\", \"Black Swan\", and my favorite off that album, \"Harrowdown Hill\". Along the way, we also received some Radiohead classics , and some new (and good) material.

Thom forgot the lyrics (he said he has a \"brain like swiss cheese\"), got help and carried on, with our encouragement. We didn't care. We were all in this together. Not quite like the interactive experience of seeing The Frames, something different. Watching masters of their craft; and coming along for the ride.

Musically, it was amazing the sound that 5 people were able to produce. There were two people on percussion — and what they produced was just fantastic. Flea was a surprise — his bass guitar was precise when called for by the song, and faded into the background nicely when not. And what can I say about Thom playing an actual piano instead of a synthesizer? The real thing sounded great.

Just a great evening all around. What more can be said?

-Andy.