The Smile Turned Miami Music Fans' Frowns Upside Down

Rock stars have always been drawn to side projects. It frees them to have fun and stretch their artistic muscles without the heavy weight of expectations. So even though two-thirds of the rock band the Smile comprises the twin driving forces of Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, it makes sense that they'd tour under a different band name. They can play new tunes without being expected to play "Karma Police" or constantly hear audience members scream for "Fake Plastic Trees."

Still, it was a bit surprising Thursday night at the James L. Knight Center that not a single Radiohead song was heard. At shows like this, the artists usually throw a bone or two to fans of the mega-famous parent band. But over a 90-minute, 19-song set, the Smile only played songs by the Smile and did so with enough enthusiasm and panache that not a single person at the venue complained. 

At nine o'clock on the dot, singer Yorke sat down at the piano and let out his familiar haunting voice for "Pana-Vision." Greenwood played his guitar. Tom Skinner rattled at his drums while opener Robert Stillman blew the saxophone. The instrumentation assignments changed frequently as the night went on. Yorke was often on bass, shaking his hips as he plucked the strings. He also messed around with an acoustic guitar and a keyboard. Greenwood traded his strings for keys, and Skinner also occasionally left the drum kit to take command of a synthesizer.

Throughout its three-decade-plus career, Radiohead has been known to experiment with the versatility of its sound. The band always tested how devoted its fan base would be toward musical evolution. The Smile, however, sounds like a different entity than any version of Radiohead, despite the common bond of Yorke's unmistakable voice. The Smile gets quite a bit jazzier than Radiohead ever did. And though the night brought plenty of ballads, the Smile remained true to its name, never straying into the dreary and hopeless territory Radiohead songs so often (and so wonderfully) delve.

Greenwood's other side hustle for the past 15 years has been scoring feature films, and on songs like "A Hairdryer," things could get pretty cinematic with the spooky sounds he created by bowing rather than strumming his guitar. Smile got things rocking to a faster pace on "Thin Thing," which attracted some excited screams from the audience. And then, on "The Smoke," they flirted with Arab rhythms as Yorke howled in his falsetto. The main set closer, "You Will Never Work in Television Again," broke new ground, ending with Yorke punching his microphone before wishing everyone a good night. A moment later, before anyone could shout "Encore!" the quartet returned to the stage for four more numbers.

Earlier, prior to launching into the unreleased "Under Our Pillows," Yorke promised fans they'd be hearing more from the Smile in the near future. "We're going to make another record," he announced.

Setlist:
- "Pana-Vision"
- "Thin Thing"
- "The Opposite"
- "Speech Bubbles"
- "A Hairdryer"
- "Waving a White Flag"
- "Under Our Pillows"
- "We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings"
- "Colours Fly"
- "Free in the Knowledge"
- "Skrting on the Surface"
- "The Same"
- "Read the Room"
- "The Smoke"
- "You Will Never Work in Television Again"

Encore:
- "Open the Floodgates"
- "People on Balconies"
- "Bending Hectic"
- "Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses"