Check out my colleague Jim Rassol's two most recent entries at Click!, the Sun-Sentinel staff photography blog. In the first, he's got great pictures up from Monday's Radiohead concert in West Palm (more of which are available at the photo gallery I mentioned in my last post), and an interesting story about his semi-obsessive efforts to see the experimental British band in concert.

Below that, he's posted photos from his recent field trip to Jazzfest in New Orleans. Out of sheer jealously I'd call it a junket, except that he went on his own dime just to enjoy himself and snap a few pictures.

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Radiohead review and photo gallery here. Set list below the fold. But first I'd like to know how Monday's Radiohead concert at Cruzan Amphitheatre - opening night of the tour - went over with people watching from the lawn.

I ask because Radiohead played without what you could call Lawn TV - the venue's twin-video screens, which are mounted at the back edge of the pavilion roof in order to extend the show visually to the big, unreserved seating on the grassy hill.

Even without screens, you would of course still be able see the stage and hear the music. But for me, on a brief trek across the lawn about eight songs into Radiohead's set, the band felt farther away than bands playing Cruzan usually do. I attributed that sensation to the missing video.

There was a curious counter-effect: Radiohead looked from that distance as if it were playing inside of a box of light. But as interesting as that was, I still felt like something was missing.

I understand Radiohead left the lawn screens off as an energy-saving measure, on a tour that's partly an experiment in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. The band commissioned a report of its energy use on past tours and is looking for ways to lower its carbon profile.

I'm just not sure this step justified depriving the lawn seats of a useful visual aid. As the study points out, audiences driving to and from concerts cause the overwhelming majority of the emissions; tour sound and lighting are a comparatively small contributor to the greenhouse effect.

So was it lame being green on the lawn? Or was it alright?

Meanwhile, here's the set list:

All I Need
Bodysnatchers
There There
Reckoner
The Gloaming
Amnesiac/Morning Bell
Nude
How to Disappear Completely
15 Step
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Idioteque
Bulletproof ... I Wish I Was
Where I End and You Begin
Airbag
Everything in its Right Place
The National Anthem
Videotape

(first encores)

Optimistic
Just
Faust ARP
Exit Music (For a Film)
Bangers and Mash

(second encores)

House of Cards
Street Spirit (Fade Out)

More on Radiohead from Click! our photo-staff blog

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John Yarling is one of the busiest and most versatile drummers working in South Florida. He's recorded and played live with more people than most of us have met, and on Monday, he drew yet another assignment: Review Eric Clapton in concert at Hard Rock Live. Here's what he saw and heard:

From the second song on it was mostly blues, with a few of the hits along the way. Clapton gave second guitarist Doyle Bramhall II room to play both regular and slide guitar, and keyboardist Chris Stainton had a few solo spots as well. Clapton sounded good, but seemed to be going through the motions at times. Bramhall didn't really get it going, either, during his solos. But Stainton was energetic, and I got the impression he was trying to move things along.

Clapton's voice was in fine form throughout, and the vocals of Bramhall and the two background singers were spot-on. A solo acoustic interlude where Clapton played Driftin' and Driftin' was one of the high points of the night.

The full band returned and stayed mostly acoustic for Wonderful Tonight. Of course, Bramhall and Clapton traded back and forth on Layla, switching parts at times, with Bramhall playing slide. Everyone in the crowd was up on their feet at the first notes of Cocaine, and they stayed up for the encore: pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph sitting in for a version of Got My Mojo Working.

The band was never introduced. (Doyle Bramhall II, guitar, vocals; Chris Stainton, keyboards; Pino Palladino, bass; Ian Thomas, drums; Sharon White, backing vocals; Michelle John, backing vocals). They were tight for the most part and, like Stainton, drummer Thomas was doing his part to raise the energy level. Clapton looked tired, though, and with a two- or three-day beard he looked older than I expected.

But I enjoyed the concert. Even when not hitting on all gears, Clapton still sounds great. The production was classy and not overdone; simple lighting and backdrops were pretty much it. I am glad I got to see him one more time before he possibly retires.

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Update 5/5: I missed a song, Kitty's Back which he played as I was backing out the door during American Land.

Review posted here. Also, note the remarks about poor sound in the comments section. These follow scathing criticism of the mix when Van Halen played the same building in February. But then, sound was an issue at several stops on the Van Halen tour, whereas I can't remember ever hearing a complaint before now about audio at a Springsteen show.

BankAtlantic Center, like all its arena brethren (Staples Center, AmericanAirlines Arena, etc.), poses a challenge to any visiting sound crew. It's difficult at best to wire up a large, mix-used facility whose primary tenant is a sports team. But I've generally found the acoustics there to be acceptable. Maybe there were bad pockets in last night's mix? For what it's worth, I was sitting in section 120, a few rows off the floor, closest to Clarence Clemons and Nils Lofgren, and from there the sound was pretty true.

Blood Brothers
The Promised Land
I Wanna Be With You
Radio Nowhere
Out in the Street
This Hard Land
Gypsy Biker
Growing Up
Candy's Room
Prove It All Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
Mary's Place
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Devils Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands

encores

Thunder Road
Born to Run
Rosalita
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
American Land

Update II 5/5: And here's the handwritten original, which barely survived all the in-show revisions:

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Not two posts ago I was talking about the odds of Bruce Springsteen inviting some special guest or other on stage this Friday, and Sheryl Crow beats him to it.

This is not - repeat not - to say that Clapton, or anyone, is going to sit in with The Boss and the E Street Band at BankAtlantic Center. I don't know one way or the other. It's just that Bruce is known for bringing out musicians he admires, and, heck, with Clapton in town ahead of his Monday night show at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, well, who knows ... I'm not lobbying here, just talking ... really.

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