The incredible Radiohead returned to New York City last night for the finale of their first run at Madison Square Garden in 13 years. The first night of the run saw the band bust out “Let Down” for the first time in 10 years, alongside strong performances of modern rarities “Planet Telex” and “15 Step.” Well, Radiohead brought “Let Down” and “Planet Telex” back for night two, alongside some huge fan-favorites that left the crowd stunned when things were all said and done.

Starting the night off again with the first five tracks from A Moon Shaped Pool, the audience seemed to fully appreciate the new material, even if the songs were repeats from the previous night’s show. The songs work well in the live setting, with “Burn The Witch” going from a string-heavy anxiety attack on the recorded version to a tribal-drum thumping sing-along in real life; “Decks Dark” is a minimalist, funky piano-driven song with a deep pocket; and “Desert Island Disk” is a beautiful acoustic tune that could rival any other Radiohead ballad in the live setting.

Moving on from AMSP, Radiohead kicked into second gear with the 6th 2016 performance of The Bends rocker “My Iron Lung”. The crowd went absolutely wild for “My Iron Lung”, pumping their fists and letting out a primal yell as the song began, all whilst head-banging along with the song’s raging chorus.

Watch “My Iron Lung” from 7/27/2016 at MSG, courtesy of YouTube user suprefan:

A haunting version of “Climbing Up The Walls” came next, and the band did justice to the OK Computer song about the imaginary monsters in your head. This song is always incredible when performed live, and this version was no different, as Thom Yorke perfectly crooned the lyrics, capturing the spooky emotion of the track, while Johnny Greenwood‘s slide guitar playing perfectly encapsulated the atmosphere of the track. This song is one of Radiohead’s best, most vivid songs, and they certainly did the it justice at MSG.

Watch “Climbing Up The Walls” from 7/27/2016 at MSG, courtesy of YouTube user suprefan:

Radiohead harnessed the energy they built up during “Climbing Up The Walls” and released it with a frenetic performance of the loop-heavy “Morning Mr. Magpie” from The King Of Limbs. Perhaps Radiohead’s most interesting ballad, the beautiful, jazzy “Pyramid Song” was up next, giving Yorke another opportunity to show off is vocal prowess as Johnny Greenwood created cinematic sounds from his musical bag of tricks. A repeat performance of “Bloom” followed, as The King Of Limbs opening track has seemed to find a permanent home in Radiohead’s setlist, having been performed at all but two of the band’s shows this summer.

After a run through two more AMSP songs – the deep-pocketed “Identikit” and a second take on the climate change-focused “The Numbers” – Radiohead turned the energy up with a serious combination of fan-favorites. First, “The Gloaming” from Hail To The Thief gave Thom Yorke an opportunity to do his trademark wiggle dance, and then “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” from In Rainbows followed, providing a truly blissful moment in the room. After a back-to-back take on electronic stalwarts “Everything In Its Right Place” and “Idioteque”, Radiohead brought their main set to a close with Hail To The Thief‘s percussive masterpiece “There There”.

As the lights went down to signify the start of their first encore, Yorke and Greenwood took the stage as a duo to perform The King Of Limbs vocal-loop ballad “Give Up The Ghost”. The band then blessed the audience with another performance of “Let Down”, which was busted out after a 10 year gap during the first night of the run.

Watch “Let Down” from 7/27/2016 at MSG, courtesy of YouTube user suprefan:

After another take on AMSP Bossa Nova ballad “Present Tense”, Thom Yorke took time to address the audience at length for the first time all night, telling fans that they need to “wake up” after seeing all of the crazy things that are happening in the world. This mini-speech went immediately into the intro of “Planet Telex”. The opening track from The Bends was also performed at the first night’s show, but was played for only the third time of the summer. Mega-hit “Karma Police” concluded the first encore, with what seemed like the entire crowd loudly singing along with the song’s “For a minute there / I lost myself / I lost myself” refrain, leading Yorke to continue the chorus of the song even after the band had stopped playing.

After another short break, the band returned for their final encore of the evening. They started with the beloved In Rainbows song “Reckoner”, which they performed beautifully as the vocals and guitar parts were harmonized beautifully. The song is one of Radiohead’s best, and it takes on a new, groovy feel when they play it in the live setting.

Watch “Reckoner” from 7/27/2016 at MSG, courtesy of YouTube user suprefan:

To bring things to a close, Radiohead had one more trick up their sleeve. Originally, the band intended to finish with a rocking version of the In Rainbows rager, “Bodysnatchers,” but the band decided to switch things up at the last minute. What was originally listed as “Silent Night” on the official setlist turned out to be a super-rare version of the band’s first-ever hit song, “Creep”. The band had refused to perform “Creep” in the past, citing a hatred for the song, but they have relaxed their stance on the song this summer, having performed it on four other occasions this summer during their European tour. When the band started the song, the crowd went absolutely wild, as Radiohead hadn’t performed the song on American soil sine their headlining performance at Coachella way back in 2004.

Watch “Creep” from 7/27/2016 at MSG, courtesy of YouTube user suprefan:

These two nights at Madison Square Garden were truly special, and anyone lucky enough to attend either night experienced true greatness. Radiohead are one of the best, most true bands in the world right now, and it’s amazing to see a band of their stature that’s as unaffected by outside influences. Their sound is unique and creative, and only these six musicians could do this music justice. Their playing is focused and relaxed, with the band finally seeming comfortable in their own skin after a career filled with self-doubt. One can only hope that, with only four other U.S. tour dates lined up for this summer, that Radiohead will return to America soon with a full slate of shows, giving everyone the opportunity to experience their magic. 

Radiohead @ Madison Square Garden 7/27/16:
Burn the Witch
Daydreaming
Decks Dark
Desert Island Disk
Ful Stop
My Iron Lung
Climbing Up the Walls
Morning Mr. Magpie
Pyramid Song
Bloom
Identikit
The Numbers
The Gloaming
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Everything in Its Right Place
Idioteque
There There

Encore:
Give Up the Ghost
Let Down
Present Tense
Planet Telex
Karma Police

Encore 2:
Reckoner
Creep