With all of the youngsters breaking into (and tearing up) the scene these days, it’s nice to have some old guys around to show us all how to really get it done. Just check out this footage of Atoms For Peace at last month’s Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata, Japan. With an average age of well over 40, Atoms For Peace – Thom Yorke, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Mauro Refosco, and Joey Waronker – should definitely be considered elder statesmen in the game.
They don’t even have a proper album, but the boys know to work a crowd. The clips (via YouTube user vagabond506) come from the FujiTV Next, which is part of Japan’s Fuji Televison Network, and they show the band working through rousing versions of “Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses”, “The Hollow Earth”, Radiohead B-side “Paperbag Writer”, and The Eraser tracks “And It Rained All Night” and “Cymbal Rush”. Refosco and Waronker provide heart-thumping percussion as the 47-year-old Flea bobs his way through “The Hollow Earth”’, and Yorke – who gets behind the piano during “Cymbal Rush” – wriggles and spins his way through the songs in a way only he can.
The whole thing is pretty frickin’ cool and makes us wish Atoms for Peace would try to put an album together before Yorke’s other band gets us all hot and bothered again. Just watch the videos below and tell us what you think.
“Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses”
“Paperbag Writer” / “The Hollow Earth”
“And It Rained All Night” / “Cymbal Rush”