Radiohead
Apollo Theatre
Manchester
May 22, 2003

Rating: 3/5

Lou Reed summed up the problems of living with legendary status with the lines, "I can't live up to this/ I'm good for just a kiss", and Thom Yorke and co presumably know exactly what he means. Deified after 1997's OK Computer album - routinely, if eyebrow-raisingly, voted the Best Album Ever - they have subsequently seemed to be fleeing from a status they never asked for. The Kid A and Amnesiac albums were wilfully obscure, while the title of the new Hail to the Thief - reportedly a reference to George Bush - could have been purpose-built to see off their American following. Here, the band are previewing the record with a tour of smaller theatres.

Radiohead have never entirely played the game, and it is typical that their two much-lauded guitarists, Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien, open the show on military percussion. The tune in question is "There There", one of a clutch from Hail to the Thief, which, owing to internet steals, fans have heard already. The new material - notably an angry, tense "Myxomatosis" and an eerie, beautiful "Backdrifts" - suggests a middle ground between soaring rock and perplexing experiments.

It has been a difficult journey. Generally, the songs from The Bends or OK Computer soar majestically while the more esoteric Kid A material, harshly exposed in this venue, could be the work of weirdo mischief-makers who borrowed Radiohead's gear.

After one particularly impenetrable racket, even Yorke quips: "Did someone shout, 'Run for the hills'?" He has somehow acquired a rather pious public image, but in this looser environment is engaging and playful. He judders his body like a puppet controlled by invisible strings. The unsung star of the band, though, is drummer Phil Selway. It's his birthday, and Yorke triggers off a sing-song. As the band glide into "Fake Plastic Trees", the much-analysed frontman plonks himself down by an amplifier and listens with the fans. Not vintage Radiohead, perhaps, but part of the essential process of once again becoming mere mortals.

Dave Simpson

The Guardian
24.05.03