Radiohead/ Sigur Ros
Tredegar House
Newport
September 1, 2000

RADIOHEAD are not the first rock band to have toured Britain in a tent. Primal Scream did it a few years ago, in a clammy marquee, but no one has yet done it on such a scale. Eschewing the usual roster of barns, warehouses and aircraft hangars, they have decided instead to bring their own arena with them: a big, blue, multi-pointed structure with flashing lights on top.

For this, the opening night of the tour, the tent was pitched in the grounds of a country house near Newport. Rain had rendered the ground soggy, but this was no big deal; many Radiohead fans would happily stand waist deep in sphagnum bog to watch the band play. Acoustically, with no hard surfaces to reflect the sound, it was near perfect.

But enough of the practicalities - what about the music? Let's put it this way: in the course of a typical two-hour show, there are usually times when I find my mind, or even my legs, wandering, but here I was captivated, absorbed, almost hypnotised.

The five members of the group are said to have found the "best band in the world" label that has been attached to them almost intolerably burdensome, but this show did nothing to alter my view that they are without equal.

Who else could render a song as complex as the multi-layered "Airbag" with such a combination of finesse and ferocity? There are plenty of individual musicians who can play with greater dexterity, but as an ensemble they are unbeatable.

There is, of course, a new Radiohead album, Kid A, coming out in October, and it was the material from this that provided them with some of their greatest potential challenges, songs such as "Everything in Its Right Place", reminiscent of Miles Davis's classic In a Silent Way album, and the Kraftwerk-esque "Idioteque". No sweat. They sounded as if they had been playing music like this all their lives.

The songs were challenging from the audience's point of view too, lacking the instantly accessible melodies of classic Radiohead tunes such as "No Surprises" or "Fake Plastic Trees", but they were received warmly, if not rapturously. There was also a stunning new song, "I Might Be Wrong", which doesn't even appear on Kid A, suggesting that we may not have to wait long before the next Radiohead album comes out.

So there we have it: Radiohead are still the best band in the world. They're just going to have to learn to live with it.

-David Cheal

The Daily Telegraph
07.09.00