Rating: 10/10

Considering the volume of trite TV we are forced to watch on a public service station as it struggles to compete with its private competitors, it's refreshing for the BBC to put their faith in some quality live entertainment. Let's face it, there aren't many bands the BBC would trust to perform a live broadcast in the professional manner with which Radiohead approach this special Later…

Any nerves they may be suffering from are immediately dispelled by their confident, relaxed stage entrance and Thom Yorke's exultation that they're going to butcher Neil Young's 'Cinnamon Girl'. Of course they don't, setting the precedent for the next 90 minutes of some of the most spiritually uplifting, life-affirming music on offer... ever.

Fears that the self-styled innovators had gone one step too far on last album Kid A and current record Amnesiac are crushed instantly in this intimate live setting. Indeed, the journey the Oxford quartet (sic) have taken from second album The Bends up to this point becomes entirely coherent, considered and focused.

Sparks fly from Jonny Greenwood's guitar as they thrash out a pre-broadcast 'My Iron Lung'. And as the camera's roll, and with a supporting cast of distorted horn blowers, the bass heavy opus of 'The National Anthem' sets the studio alight, a smorgasbord of sound, Yorke spasming like a jolt of electricity has been pumped through his tiny frame. Unafraid to ditch the axe, the lanky Greenwood fervently massages his 'sounds machine' like a mad scientist working on his latest creation, while Ed O'Brien attacks his rhythm guitar for the warmly repetitive 'Morning Bell'.

It is immediately clear that this is the fundamental difference between much of the new material on record in comparison to a live expose. The heavy reliance on rhythm as opposed to melody so awkwardly apparent on record creates an atmospheric high in a BBC studio. So, as it transpires, the initial breath-taking high of the first couple of tracks does not fade throughout, there can be no talk of highlights here.

Instead the heightened anticipation of the crowd is maintained as the band work enthusiastically through almost all of Amnesiac and much of Kid A. Contrary to their well-documented moody and despairing image, they look like they're almost fitter happier and more productive than they've ever been.

Just to prove their versatility and the fact that they haven't indulged themselves at the expense of their fans, they rattle off a series of old favourites. A beautifully poignant and emotionally stirring 'Exit Music', the xylophone-led George Monibet-dedicated 'No Surprises', the eclectic brilliance of 'Paranoid Android' and, as a parting shot, an irrepressibly raucous version of 'The Bends'.

Not only do Radiohead conclusively disprove their doubters tonight, they impress their hardcore devotees. It would appear that everything is in its right place, after all.

-Chris Nye-Browne

Music365
11.06.01