Atoms For Peace-Citi Center 4.8.10

Atoms For Peace  are Thom Yorke, Flea, Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco.  They originally formed in the fall of 2009 to play a show in Los Angeles to showcase Thom Yorke’s solo record “The Eraser” as well as a few Radio B-sides and some new songs.

Outside the venue and in the bars of boston many people were searching for tickets to what was sure to be an unforgetable performance and it was. The first set consisted of “The Eraser” in full. The album, which is somewhat claustrophobic on disc was anything but in a live setting. From Flea’s funky bass to Thom’s tortured vocals, Joey’s funky backbeat accentuated by percussionist Mauro Refosco’s  quick flourishes while  Nigel added a nice background whether playing guitar or keyboards or his  subtle backing vocals, the band sounded as if they had been playing together for years.

After a short break Thom returned to the stage with just a guitar to play a new song titled “The Present Tense”. After that Thom sat at the piano to play a hypnotizing version of Radiohead’s ”Like Spinning Plates”.  The band returned on stage to finish off the show, which included a Radiohead B-side as well as a few more Thom Yorke songs. The night ended with a sublime performance of “Feeling Pulled Apart From Horses” which reminded me of early Pink Floyd. Hopefully the band will record an album or tour again. This was one of the most intense shows i have witnessed.

01 The Eraser
02 Analyse
03 The Clock
04 Black Swan
05 Skip Divided
06 Atoms For Peace
07 And It Rained All Night
08 Harrowdown Hill
09 Cymbal Rush

Encore

10 The Present Tense
11 Like Spinning Plates
12 The Daily Mail

13 Paperbag Writer
14 Judge, Jury & Executioner
15 Hollow Earth
16 Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses