Feelings of dread and alienation have seldom sounded so acute and liberating as in the music of Radiohead, whose Sunday night concert at Coors Amphitheatre seemed to revel in – and transcend – those extremes.

This band of moody visionaries transformed existential angst into vehicles for musical catharsis. Performing with understatement one moment, rocking with fist-pumping rage the next, the subversive English quintet made its first San Diego show in eight years a night to remember.

The group took to the stage following a lively set of neo-power-pop by fellow Brit band Supergrass. Led by singer Thom Yorke, Radiohead opened with 2+2=5 and Sit Down. Stand Up., the first two numbers from its latest album, Hail To The Thief (a title inspired by George W. Bush's still-controversial 2000 election to the presidency).

Both provided a template for much of the mind-bending concert that would follow by Yorke, guitarist-keyboardist Jonny Greenwood, guitarist Ed O'Brien, bassist Colin Greenwood and drummer Phil Selway. Each song started slowly and gently, built up in tempo and intensity, then shifted back and forth again.

It was a stunning display of tension and release, of challenging listeners. And it perfectly underscored the band's lyrical focus on what Bob Dylan once described as Desolation Row.

Christopher O'Riley is not trying to be hip, fly or in the groove. And he's definitely not attempting to get jiggy with it.

The pianist's latest CD, True Love Waits: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead, is no lame adult attempt to be relevant to the teenagers he plays host to every week on the nationally syndicated radio show From the Top.

O'Riley, a solo artist known for his versatility and innovation, is just a big fan of the British art-rock band Radiohead. His 15-track CD features the pianist's own transcriptions of songs covering the 10-year recording career of the band, which has a large cult following.

I think of it really in the same way I do all the classical repertoire I play, O'Riley says. I tend to think of great music as great music, regardless of the genre.

O'Riley will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, at the Thomas Recital Hall at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City. His program will include selections from the Radiohead album, as well as classical repertoire.

The pianist began playing Radiohead during his weekly solo spot on From the Top, a nationally syndicated showcase for exceptional pre-college age classical musicians.

That generated a fair amount of enthusiasm and curiosity, he says. Enough to suggest an all-Radiohead CD might find an audience.

Which it did, big time. The CD, released this year, sold more copies in its first week than O'Riley's other 10 albums have sold to date, combined. His other recordings are mostly classical works and original compositions.

The pianist will record a follow-up album of Radiohead tunes this winter, for spring release. It's just music I love and covet and want to play in any way I can, he says.

Q: What has been your most memorable or inspirational gig and why?
A: I saw Radiohead in New Jersey, which is sort of a contradiction in terms. It was pouring rain outside and they made it fit perfectly. They made the rain feel good.

To those unfamiliar with what is arguably the most celebrated rock band of the last 10 years, the scene Thursday night at the Hollywood Bowl probably looked a little strange.

On a giant eggshell of a stage, a small man frolicked around, wiggling his limbs like spaghetti noodles and mumbling things like two and two always makes up five. But to music fans who take their tunes smothered in originality, it was the prime rib of rock concerts.

Midway through their first North American tour in two years Radiohead were clearly in town to allow their legions of fans to get acquainted with Hail to the Thief live. Of the 14 songs on the new record, Radiohead played 12, leaving out only A Wolf at the Door and We Suck Young Blood.

Imagine the Blue Man Group at a post-show jam session (when the blue is worn off) and you'll get an idea of how Thursday's show began. Guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien took the stage pounding a drum rhythm that seemed to have a pied piper-like effect on fans, who raced from the beer lines to their seats.

In pitch dark/ I go walking in, Thom Yorke sang as he did just that, sashaying in to the opening lines of There There. The darkness would only last a few seconds, however, as the columns behind drummer Phil Selway slowly erupted into a stunning display of yellow rays.

Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood knows exactly when and where the band's creative process got confused.

I was in so many dance-record shops, seeing people listen to two seconds of all these records and then choosing them on that basis, he said, recalling a time prior to Radiohead's North American tour.

That started to get to me, judging five minutes of music on the quality of the sound and the rhythm that's in them. I found myself doing it, walking up to the turntable and plowing through a pile of vinyl. I started to get the fear that Radiohead was just going to go down the route of generating new sounds for the sake of it, and thereby lose something musical.

All through the '90s, Radiohead was braced for greatness. The eccentric grounded rock of 1995's The Bends launched the Oxford quintet as an inventive British band that mattered, one that joined the line of succession to the Beatles and Pink Floyd.

With the 1997 million-seller OK Computer, the group made a larger-than-life recording of mood and sound, multiple layers of exquisite melodies and fierce, fun rock.

Radiohead chose to test the creative and commercial freedom that came with the new spirit of adventurousness and electronic experimentalism. The partial melodies and intentional abstractions of Kid A somehow became the band's first No. 1 album in the United States, despite a lack of accompanying singles and videos. The equally puzzling Amnesiac entered Billboard's album chart at No. 2, but actually beat the first-week sales of Kid A. Radiohead was proclaimed the world's most successful and most important rock band.

01. Moon Trills (5.17)
02. Moon Mail (1:12)
03. Trench (2:38)
04. Iron Swallow (2:09)
05. Clockwork of Soldiers (3:48)
06. Convergence (4:26)
07. Nudrik Headache (2:16)
08. Peartree (3:06)
09. Spitter (3:57)
10. BodeRadio/Glass Light/Broken Hearts (4:36)
11. 24 Hour Charleston (2:39)
12. Milky Drops From Heaven
13. Tehellet (3:40)

The next shots are from the vanbc show, we did a good job we practically didnít have a choice because a) radiohead were playing the next night; and b) practically everyone ive had a substantive conversation with in the past 10 months was there to see the show. so we had to be great. It was ragged and unexpected as first couple and last couple shows always are, we had a great time onstage I think I speak for everyone, and we got among other things blessed by a flyover by canadian geese and a nice view of mars looking very close to the earth. All very cool. The first shot is me and thom yorke happy to see each other after a longish absence (please go to radiohead.com to see what he and his band have been busying themselves with) and grinning like fools. He had on a great tee shirt. Thom got up with us to do 'ebow the letter' which is really my favorite song to sing, but it doesnít come often, its more of a recitation but straight from the gut and I still donít know why it moves me so much but it does. One of the few actual biographic songs and it wasnít even written as a song. We were intense and then dancing and being foolish and it was exactly great and liberating and beautiful, thoms energy for me matches peter and mikes in terms of full circle inspiring me into head spin. Thatís the great part of creating things and then sending them out there. Plus the audience went apeshit when he walked onstage. He did 'end of the world' with us too and that was a big shoutout and fun and felt like a fist in the air and a grin. Not bad for a first night. Like thatís not enough we then got to see rhead the next night at the same venue and I tell you they were astonishing and powerful and mindblowing, peter mike and I and my family and peters family and all our friends and the rhead crew friends on the side of stage and then I snuck around to front of house with the house of venus guys and todd the crusher so I could see it like a fan and it was just beautiful. They invited me up to sing 'karma police' and I was really honored because NOBODY gets up with tha radiohead. I did a good job on the chorus and danced around a little. The best part of the show for me, favorites aside, was 'a wolf at the door' which was like watching a caterpillar chrysalis in varispeed and human form right before your eyes. Better than 'mimic' and I really like that movie, especially norman being ripped apart by a giant bug.

Users will be able to access MTV mobile video content, with a choice of four packages: Daily News, including showbiz gossip; MTV What's Hot, with reviews of live performances; Best of MTV, including clips from 'Jackass' and 'Dirty Sanchez'; and MTV Live Lounge, with selections from the network's archive of live performances.

AOL Time Warner gets down to negotiations with EMI Group Plc this week, taking the search for a suitor for its Warner Music arm beyond Bertelsmann AG, people familiar with the situation said.

The U.S. media giant has decided to explore a $1.5 billion plus bid from EMI after struggling to wrap up a deal with German rival Bertelsmann, the sources said. Talks with Bertelsmann continue.

EMI's head of recorded music, Alain Levy, met AOL Time Warner executives last week to propose returning to the negotiating table after an exclusivity agreement with Bertelsmann expired, people familiar with the situation told Reuters on Thursday.

British-based EMI, home to rock bands Pink Floyd and Radiohead, refreshed an offer it made earlier this year, which included $1 billion of cash and which would give AOL Time Warner a 25 percent stake in a combined Warner-EMI, the sources said.

The sound that ultimately defines a record starts with a discussion with the artist or band. It's then about balancing time and the artist's intentions with the desired end result. The genre of music also makes a difference. When I'm recording a rock band it's more about trying to get a moment on tape; more like filmmaking when you are trying to document an event.

We're all big Tool and Radiohead fans, and we're more following the path set by people like that, or even Nine Inch Nails. It kind of draws outside the box, yet still has that catchy element to it to reel you in.

If you missed Radiohead when they played this summer at Alpine Valley, you've now got another chance to hear the Oxford, England band's music in concert. That's because acclaimed pianist Christopher O'Riley, who has released a disc of classical piano readings of Radiohead music, visits Milwaukee Wed., Sept. 24 for an 8 p.m. concert at The Pabst Theatre.

Upon first hearing the band's OK Computer disc, O'Riley was hooked, says the prize-winning concert pianist.

The band takes craft seriously, he says of Radiohead's pristine songwriting and experimentation.

This year's Glastonbury Festival is one of the most crime-free in the history of the event, Avon and Somerset Police have said.

As more than 110,000 revellers basked in brilliant sunshine at Worthy Farm, which this weekend is hosting the cream of music from around the world, police declared the site a safe place.

The headline performers, indie-rockers Radiohead, have joined campaigners around the country in calling on ministers to make world trade fairer for the poorest countries.

The low levels of reported crime - down 41 per cent on last year - were a testament to the close co-operation between police, the organisers, led by event creator and farmer Michael Eavis, and Mendip District Council, said an Avon and Somerset Police spokesman.

He said: This year is one of the most crime free. Last year was seen as one of the best (for crime figures) and we are bettering that.

Basically the site is a safe place to be.

However arrests, primarily for drug offences and theft, were up on last year and stood at 135, the spokesman added.

The festival, which is one of the musical highlights of the year, also hosts non-music events and offers generous support to survivors of the hippie generation and organisations battling for the oppressed.

All original w.a.s.t.e customers for the Toronto show will automatically have new Skydome tickets allocated. Every effort will be made to ensure that comparable tickets are available to current ticket
holders. Customers will only be allotted the same number of tickets as were previously purchased.

We have all the relevant details from the original sale and will send the replacement tickets out after Friday 19th September 2003. In order to receive these replacements you must return your original Toronto tickets to:

w.a.s.t.e tickets
c/o Allison McGregor
CAA
9830 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

If you wish to go to the re-scheduled show PLEASE DO NOTHING other than return your original tickets to the above address. Please include your name and order number.

If you do not wish to have your replacement tickets then please e-mail ticket@waste.uk.com by Friday 19th September AT THE VERY LATEST (please quote your full name and w.a.s.t.e ticket order number). You must also return the original tickets to the above address with your name and your order number so we can organise the refund.

Speculation that EMI is preparing to mount a takeover bid for rival Warner Music intensified yesterday as the British music group moved to strengthen its finances with the launch of a $243m (?152m) convertible bond.

Rumours that the world's third-ranked music company, faced with rising costs and declining sales, plans to devour AOL Time Warner's music business have resurfaced in recent weeks.

Concerns about the future of EMI, home to stars such as Robbie Williams and Radiohead, have been compounded by the continuing merger discussion between Warner and BMG, the music arm of German media group Bertelsmann.

A US spokesman for BMG refused to comment on the progress of the talks, which are expected to close by the end of the month. We are still in talks and we are still optimistic about reaching an agreement.

Q: What was the last great performance that you saw?
A: This year, I saw Radiohead at the Beacon Theatre (in New York). I had a shrewd suspicion that they were the best band around, and that convinced me.

Radiohead is the King of dramatic effect. Always building and descending, you’re never quite sure whether to dance or lie down and cry. From Thom softly crooning over a mix of subtle liquid beats (Exit Music (for a film), Sail To The Moon) to switching to an electronic induced groove (2+2=5, Everything In Its Right Place) there was a consistent change of direction throughout the set.

The band performed nearly every song from Hail To The Thief, neglecting only three of them (The Gloaming, I will and A Wolf at the Door). This still left plenty of room in the twenty-one song set. The incredibly beautiful Fake Plastic Trees (the only song they played from The Bends) felt like one of the most authentic moments of the evening. Thom Yorke has the ability to display a warm vulnerability such as Chris Martin of Coldplay, especially when he would playfully sing to a tiny camera mounted onto his piano. But, in the next moment Thom would switch to a more eerily haunting persona that would resemble someone more like Maynard Keenan of Tool. This side of Thom was prominently evident in songs like Sit Down. Stand Up.

The west is creating an extremely dangerous economic, environmental and humanitarian timebomb. We are living beyond our means. The poorest countries need to trade on fair terms with us if they are ever to get off their knees. Handouts are no longer the answer.

When the WTO started out, poor countries were spun the line that they could gain access to western markets if they signed up to a pro-business agenda - even though that agenda was potentially at the cost of their already suffering populations.

Keeping an ear to the ground, checking out Web sites and other news about your favorite musicians might still be of some use.

But in the end, for many concerts, it may soon be true that only cold cash - and plenty of it - will get you the hot tickets you are seeking.

According to the New York Times, Ticketmaster plans later this year to begin auctioning off the best concert seats to the highest online bidders.

The paper says there would be no limit on how high prices could go - it would be simply a matter of how much people were willing to pay.

There is no indication at this point on whether Ticketmaster plans to have any rules to keep ticket brokers or scalpers out of the auction, or would allow all comers - individuals and businesses - to compete on the same basis.

The band's biggest fans ought to have the best seats, not the band's richest fans, Tim Todd, 47, a Phish fan in Kansas City, told the Times.