Radiohead have played six songs so far at their first UK gig for more than 18 months, and the reaction of the audience at London Royal Festival Hall is sheer awe.
The band are on incredible form, launching into the set with a new song, ‘Optimistic’, before hurtling in a vivid blaze of coloured lights into ‘Bones’, ‘Karma Police’ and another new song, ‘The Morning Bell’, which Thom Yorke introduced as: “This is a song about amnesia’. The frontman, who has said little during the set so far, played piano on the track, and guitarist Jonny Greenwood moved into centre-stage to play it, with Ed singing harmonies over Thom‘s hypnotic, repetitive chanting.
But it was an old favourite that has so far had the most vocal support from the fans. Fourth song into the set, ‘Street Spirit’ was the one that has fired the crowd up, followed by ‘Talk Show Host’.
The stage set is described as being quite minimal, with the emphasis on incredibly atmospheric lighting and the performance itself.
Celebs so far spotted among the fans, who are reportedly transfixed in a state of “complete hero worship”, include Beth Orton and Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon.
nme.com is the first website in the world to bring you reports live from the Royal Festival Hall in London, and as soon as Radiohead leave the stage tonight, we will update you with the full run-down of their set, so check back here to see exactly what they played, what they said and what the faithful made of it all. We will also be at the after-show party and bringing any gossip from that tomorrow.
Don’t forget, we were first to report live from their astonishing comeback gig in Arles in France last month – to see how that show compared with this one and read our comprehensive coverage, click HERE.