Radiohead
Pyramid Stage
Glastonbury
June 28, 2003

(...) Forgoing the Chemical Brothers too – not an easy decision, but it’s only a DJ set after all – we venture back to catch the most talked about musical performance of the decade. Could it really be Radiohead at Glastonbury? Well. Like, yeah. Why d'you think the tickets sold out?

With the set swaying from their electronic stuff to the 'tunes' the David Gray fans like, those in the front few rows are immersed in a mass singalong with all the die-hard Radiohead geeks from countries you’ve never even heard of. Everyone else has to try and make out the scrappy sound under drunken tales from those unimpressed by the less festival friendly material like ‘The Gloaming’.

Still, ‘There There’ and ‘2+2=5’ are magnificent, and the indie-rave stuff off Kid A; ‘The National Anthem’, ‘Everything In Its Right Place’ and ‘Idioteque’ are monumental. ‘Just’ and ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ are simply mental, whilst there are no words to describe ‘Karma Police.’ Imagine 100,000 people totally silent in salutation of the band’s genius. The misery is the beauty and the melody is the key. Unlock your mind and get with the program, Radiohead just redefined what a festival performance should be about. No surprises there, then.

Andrew Future

Drowned In Sound
03.07.03