As the critically adored supergroup tour their 2nd album, we follow them across 4 live dates to delve into the breadth and depth of a Wall of Eyes and the spoil of riches that is The Smile.
If there is one thing to take from observing The Smile on their current tour, it’s that they’re not showing any indication of slowing down.
With their first two records only 18 months or so apart, and both delivered alongside extensive European and North American tours you’d forgive Radiohead fans for wondering where the heck this pace has been hiding over the last decade. A point of view that goes a long way in reflecting how very satisfying and enjoyable the trio of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner must be finding their current situation, free of the shadow that looms so large when working under the moniker of Radiohead.
Their first tour on the back of A Light For Attracting Attention quickly demanded the study of bootleg recordings and videos from the dedicated fan base as setlists often included new songs, written on the road, unrecorded tracks and nightly variations of compositions. Behaviour that very much sign posted a second album was a likely scenario. If that’s anything to go by, bring on album 3, and soon!
We were lucky enough to attend 4 live shows in the span of a couple weeks as part of both the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival and the Wall Of Eyes European tour and every show was worth its admission. Across our quintuplet of nights we heard 28 songs. The Smile having so far recorded just 21. In fact we heard every recorded track so far with the exception of Open The Floodgates from their debut. If you exclude Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses (a Thom Yorke track) we were blessed with 6 unrecorded, unreleased tunes. 1 of which was a live debut and another was a tour debut. Considering Wall Of Eyes had 8 tracks, you’d be forgiven in thinking that they’re most of the way towards a new record.
The die hard fans know that including 6 “new” tracks in their setlists is no guarantee they will ever end up recorded or included in any future release. 2 of them have been doing the rounds for a while now anyway (Colours Fly and Bodies Laughing) and songs debuted on the last tour never made it onto either record (Just Eyes and Mouth). What it does mean though is that the juices are once again flowing on tour, and we’ve seen this before!
Of the new tracks Instant Psalm is, well, an instant fan favourite. Don’t Get Me Started offers something distinctly different from anything they’ve done before. Thanks to the enthusiasm of fans pockets of the crowd are already mouthing along to the former “not a real yessss” by our third gig.
The setlist variation that The Smile endeavour to deliver, despite only having a discography just long enough to fill an hour and 45 minutes with, is one of the reasons it so very easy to decide to go to more than a single show on their tours. Initially we’d earmarked 3 (Forest National in Brussels, O2 Apollo in Manchester and O2 Academy in Birmingham), however the addition of the BBC Radio 6 Music show in Manchester with the addition of the London Contemporary Orchestra was irresistible. It’s all about the variety. And consistency!
There are plenty of constants at each of the shows we attend. Aside from Jonny destroying a bunch of bows.
The crowd pleasers. Bending Hectic is the highlight of the set. The third act build up and crescendo gives us full on hair-raising-goose bumps every time and is the perfect set finished (pre-encore). Even when you know it’s coming, there’s nothing you can do to down play it. Teleharmonic is quoted again and again by attendees as a stand out and Read The Room gets a buzzing audience reaction as it kicks in.
Friend of a Friend is one of the only songs to get a mass sing-along. It’s a piano-driven ballad and probably the most traditional sounding song The Smile have done to date (along with Free in the Knowledge) and boy can they do it well.
You Know Me has closed every set we’ve seen on this tour and there is a reason for it, it’s a beautiful sweeping slow melodic end to the show. Some venues you could hear a pin drop, others you could hear people at the bar, such is life. If you need to, tell those people to shut the fuck up, as demonstrated by Thom Yorke. We must emphasise how subtly this was conveyed as a display of respect towards both the band and majority of the audience. In the past, this sentiment may have been communicated with a hint of frustration. However, it now serves as a gentle reminder, indicative of Thom Yorke’s comfort on stage and his experience in handling such situations. It is a testament to his seasoned demeanour.
Skirting on the Surface is yet another highlight of every date we’ve been too, it seems the same for Thom, in between verses he is heavily animated and caught up in the moment, it’s a beautiful song that holds a lot of emotional weight and it’s almost an outpour from the frontman at times, it’s hard not to get caught up in the moment and just let it all out. A highly captivating moment from the shows.
The legacy. The audience at some shows appeared notably young. Conversations in the queues revealed that many had never seen Radiohead live, sparking the realisation that The Smile could be their introduction to the band’s catalogue. This presents an exciting prospect for The Smile, as they garner new fans unencumbered by the weight of Radiohead’s legacy. It’s new, it’s loose, it’s fun yet it’s still emotionally heavy at times and clearly a breath of fresh air for the band members and also for fans new and old (us being part of the latter). While similarities exist, The Smile operates without the constraints of a large machine, fostering a sense of novelty and spontaneity that invigorates both band members and fans.
Thin Thing employs a prominent voice simulator during live performances, lending a manic otherworldly quality to the song. This taps into Thom Yorke’s electronic inclinations, a departure from Radiohead’s more subtle use of voice manipulation. The dominance of vocals in this context underscores the band’s freedom from Radiohead’s expectations. Yes they’ve embraced voice manipulation many times, more so from the KID A era but the vocals here are so dominant that it really does take over the song, in the past it’s been more subtle and underplayed, serving more as another musical element rather than vocals.
A Hairdryer is played early on and this sets the tone with those complex time signatures that Thom and Jonny are famous for, and it shows how influential they have been on the younger artists of today, the young crowd are eating it up and that’s because the artists the kids are into have been heavily influenced by Radiohead. It’s a great thing to see, even if it does make us feel old.
The live renditions of tracks from the sophomore album, Wall of Eyes, breathed new life into familiar compositions. Teleharmonic and I Quit stood out for their heightened emotional intensity, underscored by Jonny Greenwood’s masterful bass lines and Thom Yorke’s emotive vocal delivery. Read the Room, Under Our Pillows are both bangers on the record and translate exactly as you’d expect. Heads bopping throughout.
It’s hard to think of a low point or a song that doesn’t hit live but there isn’t any. It’s a long, massively captivating set.
The chemistry. For 3 out of 4 of the shows we attended we were pretty much front row, or close enough. One of the joys of this is being able to really observe the band and how they engage with each other. During intros, bridges and outros you’ll often spot Yorke shooting Skinner a look to keep it going, tweak the tempo etc. To call it telepathic would be to do their musicianship a disservice, but the result is the same. Having watched numerous shows on this tour it’s also great to see how much fun the band have playing The Opposite and how it’s early in the set. It’s almost a moment for the band and the crowd to just loosen up and go with that irresistible groove. If appearances are anything to go by, they seem to be having a pretty good time up there.
The showman. Yet another benefit of being up close, one that we think really can be lost if you find yourself too far back from the stage, is just enjoying Thom‘s performance. For most of this tour, where the venue size could accommodate them, the band have added 4 screens to their stage set up, filled by images captured by stage webcams of each of the band member, plus live band addition Robert Stillman, which goes a small way in helping transmit the more intimate moments to the masses. On the nights we saw them Thom proved to be pretty goofy. Pulling faces at and interacting with the audience within his proximity (eliciting ear piercing screams from some teenage girls in Birmingham), throwing shapes, maniacally cackling or just telling people to “shut the fuck up” (also in Birmingham). Trying different takes on things such as distorted vocals in the intro of Thing Thin and looking generally amused and confused on occasion when he forgets his place in a song (not that you’d notice if he had a better poker face).
The crowd criticism. It’s a minefield. If there’s one thing we can all agree on it’s that you shouldn’t be chatting through a gig, any gig, let alone The Smile. Yet another benefit of being dead close to the stage is that you spend the gig in earshot of like minded people who turned up hours and hours before the show and as such create a wonderful gig going experience. Hang back a little and you’ll soon zone into the chatter-ers. Then we have the to dance or not dance debate. Another one that is a vastly different experience between the front vs the back. At the front heads are banging, arms are waving. Past the first few roads you’d be forgiven for mistaking a video for a still image. Each to their own, but in our opinion if Thom’s shaking his hips to The Smoke, you better believe we will be too.
The venue debate. Little or large? Seated or standing? Second one is easy, we avoided the all seated shows. We’ve always found them awkward. As for size, this tour has seen more of a variety of venue sizes and capacity than the first. Initially we absolutely assumed the smaller, more intimate venues would be the ones the band would thrive in and had concerns about how the Brussels show in a 8,000+ capacity arena would go down. It went down a bloody treat and was unanimously our favourite gig of the bunch. Fuller than we thought it would be, great crowd and big stadium moments (like the crowd holding up lights on Bending Hectic, raising a smile from Thom as he turned to Jonny to gesture him to look out at the double tiered arena). The fact you have to accept is that Thom and Jonny are always going to attract Thom and Jonny fans. There were people at the O2 Apollo gig who seemed as though they’d never even heard a song by The Smile and sometimes, especially in the smaller venues, this can have an impact on atmosphere. In terms of both chatting and dancing. So if it really really matters to you and you’re able to, getting there early for the front really is worth it any pays off.
The verdict? Knowing that we won’t see them again for a little while fills us with a sense of longing and that is the highest compliment. What a band, what a show, what a tour. Keep on smiling for as long as it feels right. Radiohead can wait just a little longer. 4 shows in 14 days with god knows how many hours spent in queues all for the same band will seem excessive to most people, and rightly so. Just not for fans of The Smile.
The Smile are on tour now. Info, dates and tickets can be found here.
Wall Of Eyes is out now and can be purchased here.
Photo Galleries by Alex Cropper.
Featuring images from BBC Radio 6 Music Festival & O2 Academy Birmingham.
the smile wall of eyes
the smile live
the smile live wall of eyes
the smile tour
Go Places Do Things 