As with the last three albums, the new material flitted between experimental electronica and rock, but mostly seemed looser, more relaxed, even displaying, dare I suggest, a sense of fun.

For opening track "Videotape", a fragile piano ballad aired for the first time, guitarist Ed O'Brien sat cross-legged before his effects pedals like a boy with a train set. Multi-instrumentalist lynchpin Jonny Greenwood later prodded at a small box that may have been steering a toy racing car offstage.

"Bangers 'n' Mash" (could there be a less likely Radiohead song title?) was a pounding rocker that saw singer Thom Yorke bashing an amusingly tiny drum kit. "Fifteen Step" was a straight-up electronic dance number, with Yorke singing a bluesy refrain before throwing shapes like a Nineties raver.

Most striking of all was "House Of Cards", a sparse, lilting, soulful beauty with just a hint of calypso and (gasp!) a hummable tune. It is the most straightforward thing the group have come up with in years, capable of appealing far beyond their famously obsessive core fans.

The rest of the two-hour set visited every other album of their career apart from the unpromising first. The band changed instruments and techniques endlessly, with Greenwood playing his guitar like a cello on "Pyramid Song" and his bassist brother Colin even trying his hand at keyboards on a frantic "Idioteque".

Some old favourites such as "Karma Police" and "Planet Telex" were present, but bold is the band that can leave out "Paranoid Android", "Street Spirit", "Fake Plastic Trees", "No Surprises" and, as usual, "Creep", and still sound like everything you had hoped for.

Fascinating to watch, constantly challenging as well as entertaining, Radiohead remain the benchmark for all who have watered down their sound. When their next album finally arrives, it will no doubt keep them on top where they belong.

David Smyth

The Evening Standard
19.05.06