Radiohead
Main Stage, V Festival
Chelmsford
August 19, 2006

Although Kasabian is the name on everyone's lips, there is a mammoth crowd for Radiohead: it is the band's first UK festival appearance for three years, and there have been rumours that they would play a greatest hits set. Thom Yorke confides: "This is a big deal for us." Yet, at first, their performance is as fractured as the flickering backdrop of CCTV-like images of the band.

"Airbag" is a slow-burning beginning, and the atmosphere remains tepid through carefully layered highlights from The Bends, OK Computer and Kid A. It's one of three new songs, the gorgeous "All I Want", that ignites the passion and energy expected of a Radiohead gig. Yorke sneers magnificently through fan favourite "Just", his voice hypnotic for "A Wolf at the Door". Finishing with the ageless "Creep", Radiohead prove that even the great still have to try, and even the blandest of festivals can surprise with a kaleidoscope of colour.

Betty Clarke

Guardian
21.08.06