The gig of a lifetime
Radiohead
Pyramid
Stage
Glastonbury
June
28, 2003
Radiohead last on the Pyramid stage on Saturday night: at Glastonbury it doesn't get any bigger than this. But big is not always best, if you consider some of the stadium rock monstrosities of yore. This however, is rock of Yorke and we're in very safe hands.
Assembled to see the Oxford boys done good is a vast crowd, easily the biggest of the weekend so far. In the darkness lamps and candles stretch back as far as the eye can see. After the scorching day, the temperature drops quickly and fans huddle together.
Radiohead are a band with an expectation or two on their shoulders. To some they're the anthemic angst-rockers of old, to others they're still the cutting edge as their music becomes increasingly experimental.
The real magic lies in how seamlessly they unite their many disparate sides. Tonight, Radiohead play for both the head and the heart.
Sing-a-long classics like "Fake Plastic Trees" and "No Surprises" generate glorious rapture, the crowd united in voice.
Probably the night's most spine-tingling moment comes when Thom and tens of thousands unite in his revelatory line "for a minute there / I lost my self". Thom leaves the stage and in the silence the line flickers above the sea of heads before bursting into life again.
When they're not crowd pleasing, Radiohead empower electronic equipment using a live, freeform perspective. Slumped over complex kit, it's a tribute to their legacy that such experimental jams are so well received. At times it's like they're the greatest uplifting techno act in the world, miles from their supposedly heavy miserablist mantle.
So much has been said about Thom Yorke: his frailty, anxiety, genius and spirit. All this is on show tonight. Visually he's hardly model material, but from within him pours out Radiohead's soul. On one occasion another band member samples his haunting voice, replaying it with ever increasing distortion. Thom just stares back at the masses, mouth closed, his voice uniting several generations in the gig of a lifetime.
Martin Clark