Radiohead began the UK leg of their world tour last night (June 24), to a packed out crowd in London’s Victoria Park.
Showcasing tracks from their most recent album In Rainbows, the gig kicked off with minum fuss as five figures took quietly to the stage and launched straight into ’15 Step’.
The band – Thom Yorke, Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway – were backlit by a cityscape of low carbon lights and five square screens featuring footage of each member.
After pausing to mumble a quiet “Alright?” to the audience, frontman Yorke made his first instrumental switch of the night, sitting down at the piano to play ‘All I Need’.
Radiohead performed with a minimalist set-up, a few guitars, piano and drums, another effort to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the tour. But the band used pre-recorded tracks and beats to great effect, remixing tracks like the Kid A song, ‘National Anthem’.
After a fevered run of tracks, including ‘Pyramid Song’, ‘Weird Fishes/Arpeggi’ and ‘The Gloaming’, Yorke and guitarist Ed O’Brien played an acoustic duet of ‘Faust Arp’.
The biggest reaction of the night came as they played the opening bars of ‘Just’ with the huge crowd singing along to the chorus.
When Yorke had a miniature drumkit set up on the front of the stage he said “Someone is now going to hit this drumkit, me,” doing his best Spinal Tap impression. “This a tricky number, this one, it’s ‘Bangers + Mash’.
The band finished with ‘The Tourist’ before Yorke returned alone for the final encore of ‘Cymbal Rush’, explaining that “the pumpkin leaves at 10.30”.
The whole band returned for ‘You And Whose Army’, before they wrapped the show up with ‘Idioteque’.
Radiohead played:
’15 Step’
‘Bodysnatchers’
‘All I Need’
‘The National Anthem’
‘Pyramid Song’
‘Nude’
‘Weird Fishes/Arpeggi’
‘The Gloaming’
‘Dollars And Cents’
‘Faust Arp’
‘There There’
‘Just’
‘Climbing Up The Walls’
‘Reckoner’
‘Everything In Its Right Place’
‘How To Disappear Completely’
‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’
‘Videotape’
‘Airbag’
‘Bangers + Mash’
‘Planet Telex’
‘The Tourist’
‘Cymbal Rush’
‘You And Whose Army’
‘Idioteque’
Radiohead play Victoria Park again tonight (June 25) before continuing their UK tour in Glasgow (June 27) and Manchester (29).