Rain is good, but not for Radiohead

So how was the show?

Back in '01, I went to see Radiohead at this place in VA called Bull Run. It was hot and I got there early, parked, went in and sat in the sun, waiting for Thievery Corporation and the the Beta Band to open up. It rained instead.

At first, the rain was a welcome respite from the heat, but it just poured. After a time, we were instructed to wait in our cars and told we would be readmitted. I sat for over an hour, drenched, in my car's passenger seat, watching teenagers slide in the mud, until we were told the show was canceled. I received a full refund.

So when my wife surprised me with a pair of Radiohead tickets I was a bit apprehensive. They were playing at a different venue, the Nissan Pavilion, but it was supposed to rain. It did.

My friend and I left Baltimore at 5:30--perhaps naive for a 7:30 show, but I had no idea how long it might actually take--I know 495 is a nightmare, but the rain didn't start until we left and it was Mother's Day. I had to visit my mother, of course, and it seemed unreasonable to tell her I couldn't visit because I needed to go to a 7:30 show that was 90 minutes away. Besides, shows start late, and there's an opening act, the Liars, that if we missed--oh, well... (sorry Liars, you seem like a fine band).

Suffice to say, we drove in an increasingly complex system of police mandated detours with hundreds (thousands?) of others, in the rain, with no clear idea of how close we were or even how to get back to the interstate. This went on for hours. My feelings were: the show will be canceled (all these people unable to get in!) or delayed (again, all these people). By 10:30 we unrolled our window and asked a cop, who had just blocked yet another road, "No show?" "No show," he answered.

This was some relief. I have been driving for five straight hours in the rain. We looped around and into a gas station for a bathroom break and a snack before turning around to head home (we went the wrong way for about a quarter of an hour--I had never been there before remember). I got home at 1:30 am. I could have gotten into South Carolina if I had driven straight south--Boston, if I had gone in the other direction. We joked that we could have driven to NYC for a slice of pizza and back, and still had time to spare.

The show, I find upon waking, was not canceled. It went on as scheduled. I'm not angry about that--fans made it in, why shouldn't they play? But will we receive refunds of some kind (I didn't even get to see the parking lot!)? Why, if Radiohead wants to be green (which I applaud) do they recommend fans use public transportation to a venue that, to my knowledge, has none? RFK is off of the Metro. How in the hell does anyone go to see anything at the Nissan Pavilion? That was a lot of rain (flooding, apparently) but it wasn't a hurricane. If shows are going to go on rain or shine, shouldn't there be contingency plans for traffic and, perhaps, some drainage or road improvements?

Incredibly, I am 0-2 with Radiohead concerts.