Thom Yorke kicked off the Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes tour with a mesmerizing set at Place Bell (review, photos, setlist)

Thom Yorke
Place Bell
September 26, 2019
Review: Gabriel Sigler
Photos: Eva Blue

Thom Yorke’s solo work may be more challenging and less accessible than most of Radiohead’s output, but that didn’t stop thousands of fans from packing in Laval’s Place Bell last night for Yorke’s Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes tour kick-off, in support of 2019’s Anima LP. With a clean and streamlined stage setup, Yorke, flanked by long-time producer and collaborator Nigel Godrich and Tarik Barri on visuals, ran through most of his recent LP, while dipping back into his solo catalogue for a few tracks from 2014’s Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, and his 2006 solo debut, The Eraser. There were also a pair of tracks from his recent Suspiria soundtrack, along with two Atoms for Peace songs, his project with Godrich and Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers thrown in for good measure.

Much of the night was a fairly restrained affair, with Yorke alternating between a stand of electronics, his guitar, or an electric piano, with Godrich stationed behind a bank of what Yorke later referred to as “machines,” and Barri planted firmly in the corner of the stage, creating the pulsing light show that played on a large screen behind the band. While much of Yorke’s solo work is fairly sombre, he still appeared to be in high spirits throughout the night, confidently striding across the wide open stage to engage with fans, and periodically breaking out into his now-signature dance moves.

While seeing Yorke in an arena obviously brings a Radiohead show to mind (including their incredible recent two-night stand in Montreal), this was a very different experience. The crowd was almost reverent throughout the show; they were deadly quiet and actively listening, a very different experience than the often exuberant feeling a Radiohead show brings. Looking out through the packed arena, almost the entire room was pitch black, with only a handful of cell phone lights periodically poking up, an extremely rare (and welcome) sight for an arena show.

Without having to wait for a full band to get ready, much of the tracks bled almost directly into one another, creating a continuous mood and vibe for the nearly 2-hour set. “Traffic,” the opening track off Anima, received one of the biggest reactions of the night, with the opening thumping beat kicking off a full-on dance party that felt more like a late-night club set than an arena gig. “Dawn Chorus,” perhaps one of the most Radiohead-sounding of Yorke’s solo tracks was a quiet stunner, while “Has Ended,” off Suspiria, cloaked the venue in its sinister midst, with Barri bathing the stage in bright pink lights, matching the album’s evocative cover art.

With a handful of solo albums under his belt, Yorke has firmly established his own musical identity apart from Radiohead, and this show demonstrated how eclectic and moving his music can be, regardless of who he’s sharing the stage with.

Yorke’s tour hits Toronto night, before heading to the US and Vancouver in October. All upcoming tour dates can be found here.

Setlist

Interference
A Brain in a Bottle
Impossible Knots
Black Swan
Harrowdown Hill
Pink Section
Nose Grows Some
Runwayaway
The Clock
(Ladies & Gentlemen, Thank You for Coming)
Amok (Atoms for Peace song)
Has Ended
Not the News
Truth Ray
Traffic
Twist

Encore:
Dawn Chorus
The Axe
Atoms for Peace
Default (Atoms for Peace song)

Encore 2:
Unmade