May 13, 2006 0:57

Radiohead kick off UK tour Radiohead Tickets

The Oxford five piece play six new tracks in Blackpool

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Radiohead kicked off their UK tour in Blackpool tonight (May 12) with a stunning two hour set which included six new songs.

Playing for the first time in the Empress Ballroom since 1997, the band laced their set with a series of classic songs from their back catalogue and new tracks which they recently premiered during their European tour.

Many fans some of whom had travelled from as far as America and Peru, had feared that the UK dates wouldn’t go ahead after the band pulled their recent show in Amsterdam following a family bereavement.

But the Oxford five-piece failed to disappoint, treating fans to the first full version of ‘Arpeggi’ in the UK.

Singer Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood had played a slower version of the track at the KOKO club in London less than two weeks ago.

Beginning with a gentle acoustic riff against a frantic drum beat, the fully blown version was more upbeat with Thom, Jonny and Ed O’Brien all combining on guitar.

Of the new tracks, which all featured on their European dates, ‘Bangers ‘n’ Mash’, ‘Bodysnatchers’ and ‘House Of Cards’ seemed to be the favourites among the fans particularly the latter which sparked a brief clap-a-along.

Introducing new track ‘Nude’, which the band have been working on for the last 10 years, Thom joked: “This next song has been kicking around for a while. It is called ‘Nude’ so don’t get any bright ideas.”

The Oxford five-piece also received huge cheers when they performed fans favourites ‘Paranoid Android’, ‘Idioteque’ and ’Lucky’.

During the encore a keyboard was wheeled on for Thom to perform the Kid A track ‘Everything In Its Right Place’.

As the band closed the second encore with ‘OK Computer’ track ‘The Tourist’, the singer added: “Thank you very much for coming tonight. Goodnight everyone.”

Radiohead played:

‘National Anthem’
‘2+2=5’
‘Bangers ‘n’ Mash’
‘Lucky’
‘Airbag’
‘Bodysnatchers’
‘15 Steps’
‘Exit Music’
‘Paranoid Android’
‘Nude’
‘Arpeggi’
‘My Iron Lung’
‘Where I End And You Begin’
‘Climbing Up The Walls’
‘How To Disappear Completely’
‘Idioteque’
‘There There’

Encore:

‘Planet Telex’
‘House Of Cards’
‘Black Star’
‘Everything In Its Right Place’

Second Encore:

‘The Tourist’