Radiohead/ Asian Dub Foundation
Earls Court
London
November 26, 2003

There are those who see the image of Jesus in clouds, or the face of Mother Theresa on a cinnamon bun. They’re obviously barking mad. Yet occasionally, during one of those elusive blue lunar moments, the gods deign to walk among us mortals. Thus it was that tonight Radiohead descended from the lofty peaks of the musical Mount Olympus where they inhabit a plateau just round the next outcropping from Muse (who, agonisingly for some, manifested themselves at Wembley the same night as Radiohead’s second apparition).

Opening with the atmospheric choice of ‘The Gloaming’, for two hours they played all but three songs from Hail to the Thief interspersed with the guitar rock of The Bends to the Warp influenced Kid A/Amnesiac years. In this soulless cavern they exuded presence and an astonishing gift for communication through their music (the sound was crystal clear), if not through words. Banter was almost non-existent but that didn’t matter in an air of mutual respect; nothing needed to be said. Thom Yorke capered happily around like a demented jester, reserving his longest speech for a dig at George Warmonger Bush’s visit: ‘Last week the nation’s capital was hijacked. I’m not sure why it was agreed to. In fact it wasn’t agreed to. Such is the power of our Prime Minister’. Cue ‘You And Whose Army’ with Thom demonstrating the uneasy look on Blair’s face as he mugged away hilariously at the camera on his piano, the line ‘you and your cronies’ reducing him to a fit of giggles. Honest! This was a band shrugging off their dour, introspective rep and enjoying themselves.

A multitude of highlights cascaded over each other like diamonds down a waterfall: Thom’s magical solo performance of ‘I Will’; the ‘Karma Police’ singalong; ‘Fake Plastic Trees’, which after all these years still sends shivers down my spine like few other songs; the pounding ‘National Anthem’; ‘There There’ with Ed O’Brien and Jonny Greenwood playing extra drums to the tribal rhythm before the explosive guitar part kicks in. During the final encore Thom said ‘this might seem a bit naff, but if you clap in the right places this song’ll sound really good’. The song was the deeply creepy ‘We Suck Young Blood’ and 18,000 pairs of hands eventually got the claps in the right places. Thom played the intro to Neil Young’s ‘After the Goldrush’ before leading the band into show closer ‘Everything in its Right Place’, the word FOREVER flashing behind them as they left one by one until Jonny and Ed remained, playing with their effects pedals and knob-twiddling their synths. Formidable, accomplished, dynamic, and with an artistic integrity few others can match, Radiohead really are a life-changing experience.

Graham S

Sounds XP
03.12.03