Radiohead Live

"The only UK gig – no pressure!" joked Thom Yorke in uncharacteristically ebullient mood, three songs into their 2001 homecoming Oxford gig in South Park on the 7th July 2001. For a band whose music is generally noted for its maudlin qualities, spirits ran spectacularly high at the gig, and despite the weather's best efforts to put a damper on things, literally, this was a supremely memorable concert. More like a festival than a concert, preparations began for the South Park gig a good week earlier, with the erection of a huge concrete wall to section off a huge area of the park, to contain the stage, various food stalls, two huge bars, and ...

For those of you who have tickets for the autumn UK dates, we'll try and keep the hyperbole to a minimum. They open with 'Talk Show Host', and it's as brooding and magnificent as it has ever been. But with the following 'Optimist', the first new track to be unveiled tonight, they seem to drop a gear - and so early! Each band-member plays as if memorising lines, running through their individual parts rather than meshing into the deft, supple whole we have come to expect. This unusual disconnection, luckily, doesn't even continue into the next number. The Tivoli is a beautiful renovated theatre in the centre of Barçelona, ...

Lisbon 22, 23, 24 July I recently had the very great pleasure to witness the opening three shows of Radiohead's sadly brief (12 dates) Portugeuse/Spanish tour. Radiohead are using this mini-tour to unveil / test-out new songs that have yet to be recorded by them in the studio. These three gigs took place in the beautiful 19th century theatre the Coliseu dos Recreios in the centre of Lisbon. This stunning venue is rather like a minature Royal Albert Hall - in the round with boxes on the upper levels and bench seating on the lowest with a general admission floor. Being a massive fan I was determined to get to the front rail for each night ...