It wasn't long ago that we featured Radiohead for shying away from venues that were unaccessible by public transportation. Now the “World's Greenest Band” has gone one step further by undergoing a partial carectomy and telecommuting. Rather than traipsing across the Atlantic for their performance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien the band stayed home and broadcasted their performance via satellite.

According to band leader Thom Yorke, by foregoing the roundtrip flight to New York, Radiohead's pollution reduction was equivalent to driving a car for an entire year. Of course this is a bit more extreme than most peoples' typical commutes – but the principal remains the same.

Telecommuting is a great way for people to decrease car use. More and more employers are amenable to allowing workers to log in from home several days per week and scheduling meetings and important face-to-face functions on specific in-office days.

Radiohead's remote show was just the thing to feature on NBC's “Green Is Universal” week. Here's hoping that Radiohead's green image will become the norm for bands, rather than that of hotel-trashing, nose-loading, over-consuming walking train wrecks.

Check out Radiohead's rocking performance, complete with an impressive to-the-point jab at Mr. Bush:

Photo via flickr by Michell Zappa.

Comments (4)

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P said:

This is great, but when they came to Washington DC they chose one of the few venues that is inaccessible by public transportation. Then because of a torrential storm half the audience spent three to five hours driving around the Nissan Pavilion. Although I applaud Radiohead efforts, I wish they would show more commitment to follow their rhetoric.

May 14, 2008

Rob said:

I think that has less to do with them and more to do with their promoter Live Nation. I think Radiohead was probably under the impression that Nissan pavillion is close enough to DC for their to be public transportation. I went to the show, and radiohead was AMAZING (as always) but the experience surrounding the show (spending 3 hours in the car, should have only been an hour, missed the first 6 songs, flooding) was horrid. There is currently a petition going around to get radiohead to play the verizon center in DC, since that is on the red line and there are ample public transportation options. the point is, focus your ire at Live Nation, and hopefully with enough prodding radiohead will re-evaluate that relationship.

May 14, 2008

Dagny McKinley said:

I was reading another blog about bands broadcasting shows instead of playing live. I think that cuts out the energy and connection an audience can have with a band. Not only that, but it tends to isolate us even more. If I can't see Radiohead live, then why not watch it alone in my house? Why ever leave my house? I commend bands that want to reduce emissions and there are many ways to do so, but what creates fans is the intimate interaction with a following. Dagny McKinley www.onnotextiles.com organic apparel

May 14, 2008 | url

Josh said:

Dagny - For sure live shows are not the target. The energy and connection you mention are a magical part of music. But for a variety TV show, like Conan O'Brien, where the audience is predominantly at home anyhow, why not encourage this sort of telecommute?

May 14, 2008 | url

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