As a big fan of Radiohead I would go to a lot of trouble to see them live, but I'm not sure if I'd ever repeat the events of last night if I had it to do over again.  The show was at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia, which has a bad reputation for being a traffic nightmare even when the weather is perfect.  But last night the weather was far from perfect.  It was an absolute deluge and with temperatures in the 40s, the conditions were downright miserable. 

Bad as the weather was, Radiohead absolutely rocked.  They sounded fantastic and for most of the show I was able to forget about the weather.  The sound was great and we were only about twenty or thirty feet from the stage, where the view was clear and the air around us smelled like a rock concert should.  Radiohead played a great set list, spanning almost every album and many of my personal favorites.  After giving us our money's worth with two encores and numerous thanks for enduring the elements, Radiohead called it a night.

Going back into the steady downpour of the flooded, jam-packed parking lot was not fun, but sitting there for the next two hours without moving an inch just about killed us.  Tuning in to the local news station, we learned that area roads had been closed due to flooding.  But we were the lucky ones.  A lot of people weren't under the pavilion and stood in the cold rain the entire time.  Many of the people who set out earlier that evening never even made it into the show because of the insane traffic resulting from road closings, but thanks to the alternate directions Ryan came prepared with, we only missed the opening act.  Almost three hours after the concert ended, we finally began our long drive home. The rain continued to pour and I kept a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel the whole way home as we hydroplaned our way back to Maryland.

Would I do it again?  I might.  I just don't know.  It was Radiohead afterall, and both times I've seen them I felt like it was tantamount to seeing The Beatles in concert in their prime.  Some things in life you just shouldn't miss.  As I warm up over the next few days and remember the great show Radiohead put on, maybe I won't think it was all that bad.