The Smile Make Their Mark at The Midland
Written by Colin LaVaute - Photography by Colin LaVaute
The members of Radiohead all have a long line of side projects that are scattered across the history of the decades’ old act. From Atoms for Peace to Thom Yorke’s solo career you almost expect a new one to pop up every couple of years, play a smattering of shows, and then disappear again as soon as the Radiohead machine begins to pick up steam. Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood, and drummer Tom Skinner’s band titled The Smile however, is different in that it doesn’t feel like something to fill the time in between Radiohead records. There is a certainty to their presence that implies that The Smile is more than a “side project.” In this moment, they are the primary musical vessel for Yorke and Greenwood. Nowhere was that felt more strongly than at their recent performance at The Midland Theater in Kansas City.
The fact that this act made their way through the Midwest is a big deal. They only had a handful of dates on this short tour that was announced near the release of their epic new single “Bending Hectic.” It was an especially big deal for me considering how much of an impact Yorke and Greenwood’s music has played in my life.
The 2001 Radiohead album Amnesiac was my soundtrack every night on my half-hour drive from my first job as a movie theater projectionist. Cruising down Route B towards Hallsville, MO in my 1987 Mazda 626, I’d blare the CD on a sound system that was probably worth more than my car. Windows down and moon roof open, it was an exhilarating piece that also was the perfect nightcap as I made my way towards my, setting my mind on cosmic plains as I prepared to rest and get to school the next day.
The fact that this act made their way through the Midwest is a big deal. They only had a handful of dates on this short tour that was announced near the release of their epic new single “Bending Hectic.” It was an especially big deal for me considering how much of an impact Yorke and Greenwood’s music has played in my life. The 2001 Radiohead album Amnesiac was my soundtrack every night on my half-hour drive from my first job as a movie theater projectionist. Cruising down Route B towards Hallsville, MO in my 1987 Mazda 626, I’d blare the CD on a sound system that was probably worth more than my car. Windows down and moon roof open, it was an exhilarating piece that also was the perfect nightcap as I made my way towards my, setting my mind on cosmic plains as I prepared to rest and get to school the next day.
While the sound and timbre of The Smile are wholly reminiscent of Radiohead, the vibe as the band stepped onto the stage felt different. This is its own thing. Playing in the music hall that holds roughly 3000 attendees was a wholly different experience than when Radiohead played across the street at the 18,000 seat T-Mobile Center over five years ago. This felt like a new band making claims to justify the hype surrounding them.
Within the opening notes of The Smile taking the stage, they had the crowd in the palm of their hands as they began the show with “Pana-vision,” the piano-laden track of their 2022 album A Light for Attracting Attention. Yorke sat on the piano and Greenwood was on bass, though they would constantly be exchanging instruments throughout the evening. At any given point, either Yorke and Greenwood could be seen playing piano, bass, guitar, or synths. Yorke exuded his trademark primal dance expressionism. Greenwood sporting his trademark, dramatic, hunched-over frame so his long-enough jet black hair mysteriously obscures his face.
I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for both on stage personas and while the act may be new, you don’t change the recipe of an award-winning dish.
Yorke’s actual lyrics are hard to make out in recorded form, but live you have to give in to the fact that his voice is simply another instrument in the echoing milieu. Skinner’s beats served as the anchor to the whirling dervish of sound, emanating from his bandmates.
The show served not as your typical rock show, so much as an ethereal excursion of the senses. It was art in motion headed up by two masters of the form. To simply be present and soak up each note like a sponge was enough to elicit elation. Not the type you might expect from a raucous, head-banging affair, but the type of elation that can only be conjured when a band seemingly bends reality itself like a Christopher Nolan movie.
The Smile closed the night with their recently released epic “Bending Hectic” to put an exclamation point on what was an unforgettable night at The Midland Theater. The Smile only stopped in KC, St. Louis, and Chicago on this run. It is the expectation of this writer that this won’t be the last that we see of this act that has already proven itself as much, much more than a “side project.”
