Radiohead | Emirates Old Trafford | 04/07/17
- Jul 8, 2017
- 2 min read
On Tuesday evening Radiohead graced Manchester with their presence. What was initially to be two gigs over two nights at Manchester Arena was merged together to fill the twice as big Emirates Old Trafford for one night of brilliance.
The world-famous quintet opened with OK Computer's, Let Down, this was the first time the 1997 track has been used as a set opener and the sensual song was a wonderful way to open the night. The first section of the performance was filled with mostly newer songs, or songs from their 2017 remaster of OK Computer, titled OKNOTOK. This part of the set included songs Bloom and one of my favourites No Surprises. The band then left the stage following the song 2 + 2 = 5. I felt the main part of their set was good but I would have preferred if they had played some more fan favourites to create a more exciting atmosphere.
The band began their first encore with 2016 track Daydreaming, another beautiful song with a slow start and gradual build up. The group also performed Paranoid Android, a well loved track which is also featured on 1997's OK Computer. For me, this was the point where the night really began rolling. The song is one of the more lively tracks in Radiohead's back catalogue and didn't fail to lift the atmosphere. They then followed with Fake Plastic Trees, the first time on the night the group performed a track from one of their earliest and most popular albums The Bends.
After leaving the stage for a second time, the group came back with some of their older hits, beginning with There, There then following onto I Promise. The band then surprised the audience by playing The Bends, this was only the second time they have performed the track in almost a decade, creating an unbelievable buzz through the whole venue, everyone was singing along with the band and it was a wonderful experience. The night was closed by the performance of Karma Police, this was an excellent track to end the night and only left the whole 50000 capacity stadium wanting more. After the show, everyone leaving the venue was singing the lyrics to the closing track "For a minute there I lost myself, I lost myself...." and the atmosphere was uplifting, I left the venue happy.
Overall I think the band could have played a much better set and I feel it began relatively mediocre involving newer, less popular songs. However, as the night went on it definitely picked up for me, the band played songs that the crowd both know and love, towards the end of the performance the atmosphere in the stadium was glowing and lively.
Liv X
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