The Smile live at K.B. Hallen in Copenhagen, on March 13, 2024. Photo by Aki Kärkkäinen.
The Smile offered a sublime concert experience at K.B. Hallen in Copenhagen. They’re a supergroup of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and Tom Skinner of Sons of Kemet, accompanied by Robert Stillman. I’ve never seen Radiohead live, and these brilliant musicians on stage (partly) filled that gap. The Smile is a class act in itself 🙂
After checking some YouTube clips, I was curious to hear and see how the songs from their two albums (at the time of writing) work in a live setting. It turned out to be a magical evening.
However, during Bending Hectic the band used strong flashing lights, which can trigger seizures for some people. I found the flashing lights extremely annoying, ruining the otherwise great experience. The BBC added a warning about this in their 6 Music Festival 2024 clip. Perhaps there should’ve been a note about it in advance at the concert, too?
This was the first time since 2019 when I was at a concert with thousands of other people. It was both familiar and uncomfortable at the same time. What have we learned during the pandemic years, between 2019 and now?
The Smile live at K.B. Hallen in Copenhagen, on March 13, 2024. Photo by Aki Kärkkäinen.
The Smile live at K.B. Hallen in Copenhagen, on March 13, 2024. The first clip: Zero Sum (unreleased song), and the second clip: You Know Me! (from their latest album Wall of Eyes). Videos and video editing by Aki Kärkkäinen.