Radiohead in 100 gigs
January. The year begins with the release of No Surprises on January 12, more B sides (Palo Alto and How I Made My Millions) plus emerging news about Grant Gee’s forthcoming film documentary. Ed and Phil do their bit on the radio, Thom’s pretty much stopped doing interviews, they’re going to be touring until the… Continue reading Notes from 1998. January-October
I’m on the later shift at the record shop today, this morning I almost put on my Paranoid Android T-shirt but changed my mind at the last moment. It is busy in the shop all morning. At lunchtime, I eat a sandwich in the Botanic Gardens and when I come back at 2.30pm, I go… Continue reading 37*. Fopp Records, 8 October 1998
When I go to check my email the day after Thom came into the shop, there is a rumour circulating from the Japanese continent that Thom is going to be a father. I somehow doubt that this is true, as he surely would have mentioned it yesterday, but I use my new opportunity to contact… Continue reading Meeting People Is Easy. October-November 1998
January. Working in the record shop on my feet all day is exhausting. I spend my wages on discounted CDs and let my friends take advantage of the perks. The manager insists on us playing acid jazz funk most of the time, which does my head in. February. In my diary I seem to be… Continue reading Notes from 1999
The venue for today’s Tibet Freedom Concert is a big exhibition hall. Keiko photographs everything and is gutted when they don’t let her take her camera inside. She and her friend Myoko are on the guestlist and I have my ticket. I buy a T shirt with the line up on the back on the… Continue reading 38. Amsterdam, RAI Parkhall, Tibet Freedom Concert, 13 June 1999
February. I mentioned the new "website" I'm writing for, (people dont' really understand the idea of an "online" only magazine yet, they keep asking when it's coming out) in an email I sent to Thom late one night, and he replied a few days later. He said he was worrying about “finishing, touring, fax machines… Continue reading Notes from 2000.
In London, I go for a look at the art at Somerset House. Then in the afternoon I sit on the South Bank, eat my sandwiches and watch the people go by. In between rain showers and cups of tea, I read the paper and use phone boxes to try to call Caffy’s mobile and… Continue reading 39. London, Royal Festival Hall, Meltdown, 1 July 2000
July. The NME announces the LP will be called Kid A. It will be available in October. The gigs that have already been announced are in September, in a specially constructed tent that the band are taking out on tour with them. The track listing for the album is still to be finalised, with The NME speculating… Continue reading Cutting and pasting. Notes from July & August 2000
In September, I start work at the TV production company in Glasgow. I can’t get much time off, but InRock, the Japanese magazine where Atsuko is still working, arranges for me to get a ticket to one of the London shows, so I fly down. I arrange to stay with my uncle’s brother, his place… Continue reading 40. London, Victoria Park Tent, 24 September 2000
I go back to Scotland and figure I can’t go to the other Tent shows. Thom replies to my email. He’s in Brussels “listening to a chorus of a hundred trucks with their horns going forming these occasionally beautiful harmonies.” There have been a spate of protests about fuel prices springing up all over the… Continue reading 41 & 42. Glasgow, Glasgow Green Tent, 28 & 29 September 2000