Radiohead postpones seven dates in wake of Toronto stage collapse

The band Radiohead is continuing to feel the repercussions of a stage collapse that killed a crew member and injured three others before its show in Toronto on Saturday. On Thursday, the band announced the cancellation of seven upcoming European tour dates. In a statement, the band said it intends to return to its tour schedule July 10 in the south of France. 

The statement briefly addressed the tragedy that occurred at Toronto's Downsview Park, in which a stage collapsed at a Live Nation-promoted show that was to feature Radiohead. Ontario's Labour Ministry has launched an investigation into four of the companies involved in setting up the concert,  Live Nation, Optex Staging & Services, Nasco Staffing Solutions and Ticker Tape Touring, according to the CBC. 

The collapse occurred after the stage had been rigged with Radiohead's equipment, and just an hour before gates were to open.

Coachella 2012: Radiohead's Yorke DJs 'til dawn at the Parker Hotel

What is one to do after playing your heart out for tens of thousands of people at one of America’s biggest music festivals? If you’re Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, you don’t grab well-deserved shuteye. Early Sunday morning, York unleashed one of his epic DJ sets for an intimate crowd of friends and in-the-know types at the uber-trendy Parker Hotel in Palm Springs, taking the decks a little after 4 a.m. and keeping the crowd shaking ‘til dawn.

When word about artist-thrown after-parties starts to spread around the desert during Coachella, it can lead to chaos and confusion wherever the gathering ends up. But the Radiohead party managed to stay very much under the radar, and since it didn’t start until late (1 a.m.), only diehards (on a short list) ultimately made it in.

COACHELLA 2012 | Full coverage

The funky, somewhat subversive décor inside the Parker (courtesy of designer Jonathan Adler) was the perfect setting for a soiree thrown by the revered rockers. Held on the back patio of the hotel, with an adjacent dance room, the affair was a chill yet fabulous mix of music and imbibing.

DJ Ana Calderon started the evening with her signature mix of rock, soul and retro nuggets, with Yorke continuing the genre-blend as the night wore on and moving in a decidedly funkier direction, meshing electronic grooves, hip-hop (Snoop Dogg!), Motown (Diana Ross) and James Brown, during which he left the decks and let loose on the floor with killer moves of his own.

Yorke also spun earlier at the Ace Hotel with Flying Lotus and Gaslamp Killer (whom he notoriously joined at the club Low End Theory in L.A. last year) for a Brainfeeder event, video of which can be found all over the Web. But his own party mix and set, far more magical, was enjoyed by a rapt few, all of whom were more interested in absorbing the vibe and his brilliant selections in the moment, rather than capturing it for a computer, OK? 

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— Lina Lecaro

Photo: Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke DJs the band's Coachella afterparty in the wee hours of the morning at the Parker Hotel in Palm Springs early Sunday. Credit: Lina Lecaro.

Coachella 2012: Radiohead headlines, fans worship at altar

At this point the praises and raves for the Oxford, England, band Radiohead are so plentiful that to write another one seems pointless: Superb art rock quintet arrives once again to Coachella in its second appearance (2004), makes a lot of people cry on the main stage by filling the Empire Polo Field with music of melodic beauty and primal rhythmic energy, and rock critic pens love letter.

Having hired the best sound technicians, an expert stage designer (Andi Watson, who's pushing forward the very nature of outdoor concert aesthetics with each new project), keen management and a PR machine that teases each special moment, Radiohead has captured its population, and understands how to move them. Now they just have to keep doing that. And aside from doing something mind-bafflingly misguided like collaborating with Scott Stapp or Lady Gaga, Radiohead seems like it could keep doing this for a long time.

Mostly I'm talking about the magnificence of the band's presentation, which over the course of two hours turned a darkened dozen acres into a place to worship at the altar of a five-story glowing canvas of images and abstractions. These images strobed and pumped through "The Gloaming," shifting with each bent Jonny Greenwood guitar line, drawing close to singer Thom Yorke as he pushed a falsetto.

COACHELLA 2012 | Full coverage

On "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi," from the band's "In Rainbows" album from 2007, a screen of vertical light bars created what looked like an illuminated waterfall while on a dozen video screens fluttered images of the band: percussionist Phil Selway dotting out complicated beats that spiraled in and out of themselves and Ed O'Brien building momentum, and bassist Colin Greenwood building a dubby foundation.

Beneath this beauty stood the band, barely visible to most fans dancing below remote sound systems five football fields away and watching 18 massive flat screens showing close-up images of Yorke and others lost in song. On the gentle new piece "The Daily Mail," it didn't seem to matter that most couldn't actually see Yorke singing from out in the sticks, that you couldn't see his eyes scrunched with emotion.

Other acts over the course of the festival made sure that at least one of the big screens provided more direct documentation of what was happening onstage so as to capture the musicians at work. But that's not this band. On Saturday, they were interested in something grand, which is what they delivered.

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-- Randall Roberts

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Photo: Radiohead shines under its brilliantly designed and utilized stage show, headlining the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Saturday night. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

'The Sun Came Out' video shows Neil Finn, Eddie Vedder and more

Fans of the creative minds behind Radiohead, Pearl Jam, the Smiths, Wilco, Crowded House and Split Enz can take a behind-the-scenes look at how they work in a new video coming April 10: "The Sun Came Out: The Making of the Album '7 Worlds Collide.'"

The project explores the creation of 2009's follow-up to the 2001 benefit album "7 Worlds Collide," which former Split Enz and Crowded House singer and songwriter Neil Finn assembled to raise money for Oxfam, the international charity whose mission is to alleviate poverty and injustice.

A little more than a decade ago, Finn invited Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Radiohead's Phil Selway and Ed O'Brien, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, singer-songwriter-instrumentalist Lisa Germano, as well as his brother and Split Enz/Crowded House band mate Tim Finn and others to New Zealand for a multi-artist concert and album.

In 2009, he brought most of that group back together, with extra help from Jeff Tweedy and other members of Wilco, KT Tunstall and other friends to record a second album and play three more shows from which proceeds were donated to Oxfam.

During their three weeks days together, 20 musicians produced 10 new songs collectively for "The Sun Came Out." Here's the trailer:

Critic's Notebook: At Coachella, a rebellious spirit

The booking of Pulp, with its ‘Common People' anti-1% screed, typifies Coachella '12. 

One of the great, universal rock anthems of the last two decades — Pulp's “Common People” — bypassed the U.S. when it exploded out of England in 1995. But if and when a reunited Pulp plays the song at this year's Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., its artful and catchy screed against the 1% couldn't be more timely.

At a moment when jobless kids are cracking open piggy banks and digging deep for a Coachella ticket to see 120-odd bands over one weekend at the Indio festival, Pulp seems the most relevant among veteran acts that also include Refused, Mazzy Star, At the Drive-In, Company Flow, Madness and Squeeze. But Pulp's arrival isn't the biggest name coming out of the desert's festival, which runs two consecutive weekends. This year's roster, which was announced Monday afternoon by promoter Goldenvoice, will feature Dr. Dre and Snoop, Radiohead and the Black Keys as headliners, while dozens of other acts will occupy the festival's five stages, including Grammy-nominated names such as Bon Iver, Florence and the Machine and David Guetta. An undercard includes dance, hip-hop and rock upstarts SBTRKT, M83, Azealia Banks and Feist.

Pulp's arrival at Coachella this year, however, typifies the festival, its ever-evolving and maturing aesthetic, and its place in the culture right now.

“Common People” is a lyrical conversation with a rich girl longing to slum it with the commoners. With bitterness in his voice, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker tells of her desire to “sing along with the common people,” then replies that she could never truly do that because inherited wealth blinds her to the realities of the paycheck-to-paycheck life. “You'll never get it right,” he sings, conjuring the spirit of both Ray Davies and Bob Dylan, “'cos when you're laid in bed at night/watching roaches climb the wall/if you call your dad, he could stop it all.”

Coachella 2012: Dr. Dre, Radiohead, the Black Keys to headline

Rapper Dr. Dre will close the 2012 edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, to be held for the first time over two consecutive weeks in mid-April. Headliners for the multi-weekend, six-day affair include rock acts the Black Keys, Radiohead and the Shins, as well as hip-hop and dance acts Snoop Dogg, the Swedish House Mafia and Kaskade, among many others.

Coachella, run by AEG-owned concert promoter Goldenvoice,  will be held over two consecutive weekends -- April 13-15 and April 20-22. The lineup was unveiled on the Goldenvoice and Coachella Facebook pages Monday.

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Modeled after major long-running European festivals such as Denmark's Roskilde and England's Glastonbury, Coachella is coming off its second-consecutive sell-out year, hosting approximately 90,000 people per day. Tickets for the 2011 edition went in a record six days, and the event, held at the Empire Polo Grounds, is considered the unofficial kick-off to the summer festival season. More to come ...

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Latest Radiohead demo is a hoax; real songwriter pops up on CNN

The buzz behind the old Radiohead demo that created a frenzy in the blogosphere last week was deflated Friday as news quickly spread that the song "How Do You Sit Still/ Putting Ketchup in the Fridge" was not actually recorded by the band.

Canadian musician/baker Christopher Stopa appeared on CNN on Friday morning with anchor Erin Burrnett to confirm that the track, originally called "Sit Still," was actually his creation. Stopa says that the Internet buzz over the new track caught him by surprise, especially since he didn't post the song and claims to have no idea who did.

"What started coming out my speakers sounded extremely familiar and after a couple seconds, well wait a second, this is my song," Stopa told CNN. "My first thought was to think somehow I had hit play on my iTunes."

Considering that the song was originally pegged as a buried gem from Radiohead's early '90s material a la "Pablo Honey" or "The Bends," it was surprising to hear that Stopa recorded the song in 2001 with a band he had at the time. It's been over a year since Stopa recorded or played any music, opting to get into the bakery business with a friend after his music career began to stall. Since news of the song spread last week, it's garnered over 96,000 views on You Tube.

Thom Yorke, Massive Attack perform to support Occupy movement

As America's Occupy movement begins to sort out its second phase of operations after nationwide evictions from campsites, London's protests have gotten a high-profile endorsement. Today, Radiohead's Thom Yorke joined Massive Attack and producer Tim Goldsworthy for a concert at an occupied office building in the London borough of Hackney, the Bank of Ideas, which was owned but abandoned by the bank UBS.

The event streamed live on the Occupy London livestream, which also reports that new music from the ad hoc combo might soon be available on Occupation Records, a music-centric fundraising arm of the movement. 

Yorke and Radiohead have been outspoken in lyrics and in interviews about their fears of corporate influence, and Massive Attack recently launched a Soundcloud page devoted to new mixes and tracks from artists inspired by the global Occupy movement.

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-- August Brown

Photo: Thom Yorke performs at L.A.'s Orpheum Theatre. Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times

Radiohead to tour U.S. in 2012; no SoCal dates unveiled

Radiohead will undertake its first major U.S. tour in four years in 2012 with a run of shows that opens Feb. 27 in Miami. The initial batch of performances includes 10 stops in six states, bringing that British group to Glendale, Ariz., on March 15 to conclude this round of concerts.

No Southern California dates have been announced. Radiohead last played in Southern California in the summer of 2008.

Radiohead: No statement, no plans to play at Occupy Wall Street [updated]

Internet rumors reached fever pitch Friday morning that Radiohead, who performed at the Roseland Ballroom in New York on Wednesday and Thursday nights, will perform Friday afternoon at Occupy Wall Street, the protest that has been slowly gathering steam since its start on Sept. 17. According to a post on occupywallst.org (the site, which was up throughout the morning, is now giving an error code and appears to be crashing), one of the movement's online hubs, the band that prides itself on working outside of the corporate system for its last two releases is supposed to play at 4 p.m.

[Update at 2:22 p.m.: occupywallst.org is now back up with a post that states that Radiohead won't be playing. "This was a hoax. Please accept our apologies."]

Turns out the dream of hearing "Subterranean Homesick Alien" while corraled behind orange police fencing proves to be nothing more than a powerful rumor. According to the band's publicist, there is no statement from the band on the occupation, nor is it playing today or has any plans to play the event in the future.

Several public intellectuals and celebrities have joined Occupy Wall Street or have spoken their support to the media, including Susan Sarandon, Michael Moore, Russell Simmons and Cornel West, who told Democracy Now! that the occupation has the makings of a U.S. Autumn in response to the Arab Spring.

Regarding criticism that the protest lacks a clear and unified message, the Princeton University professor said, "You’re talking about raising political consciousness so it spills over all parts of the country ... in the end we’re really talking about what Martin King would call a revolution: A transfer of power from oligarchs to everyday people of all colors. And that is a step by step process."

The Radiohead rumor brings up an interesting topic: What will be the role of musicians, if any, at this protest? So far, it's been limited. The rapper Immortal Technique performed a concert on Sunday night in Zuccotti Park (the site of the Wall Street protests), and Lupe Fiasco gave an onsite interview to grass-roots organization We Are Change, but so far no act with the visionary cache of Radiohead has shown much support or interest.

But perhaps that is still yet to come. There's no denying that the occupation, now finishing its second week, is gaining more official support every day. According to Crain's, a loose coalition of labor and community groups said Thursday that they would actively join the protest next week. That coalition includes a group of New York City’s biggest labor unions — including the main unions for city teachers and transit workers, as well as two sections of the Service Employees International Union. Is that the kind of momentum that will make Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan show up and serenade the crowd with a little "People Have the Power" or "Masters of War"?

-- Margaret Wappler

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Photo: Thom Yorke playing at the Orpheum Theatre in 2009. Credit: Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times