Radiohead in 100 gigs
One of the Warrington tent gigs went out live on Radio 1, and this seemed to seal the band’s improved relationship with the station, the weirder they sounded and the less conventional promotion they did, the closer they got to mainstream success. Kid A came out on the Monday, and was by no means a record… Continue reading Notes from 2000-2001. Kid A / Amnesiac
There is no where left to stay in Oxford. I travel to London, where I have a friend with a sofa. The London-Oxford buses run all night. Back into Oxford. My bus arrives in the early afternoon, I miss the stop for Headington just as Keiko phones me (by this time I have a pay-as-you-go… Continue reading 43. Oxford, South Park, 7 July 2001
Without reliable internet at home, I have been calling in to use a friend’s computer to check my email and catch up with news sites. I have been lurking the Radiohead website’s message board but so far haven’t really got to grips with it. I notice that the same group of people post messages there… Continue reading 44. Belfast, Odyssey Arena, 14 September 2001
After consuming the best Chinese meal of my life and many “Gintonics”. My hosts introduce me to the delights of proper Japanese karaoke. We murder a few Radiohead numbers while we’re at it, then we all spend the night in a rather anonymous hotel in the centre of Osaka. About 11am, next day, we take… Continue reading 45. Osaka, Osaka-Jo Hall, 29 September 2001
Yasuko and I walk through the underground mall to avoid the rain, have breakfast in a café and then catch the courtesy bus back to the Imperial Hotel. We are going to stay in the hotel tonight, we are sharing with Atsuko, if we split the twin room three ways it’s only a little bit… Continue reading 46. Osaka, Osaka-Jo Hall, 30 September 2001
There is no gig on 1st October, but we start the day hanging out in the lobby of the Imperial one more time. I sit in what has become my favourite seat, with a discreet view of hotel comings and goings. Behind us Ed and the management are discussing a planned dinner in Tokyo and… Continue reading 47. Tokyo, Budokan, 2 October 2001
In Tokyo, the band are staying in the Meguro Gajoen, the poshest hotel I’ve ever seen in my life. Keiko and I head there about lunchtime to meet up with Caffy and the others. Caffy is in the café having cheese and biscuits for breakfast. The coffee is so expensive and she’s so jetlagged that… Continue reading 48. Yokohama, Arena, 3 October 2001
I wake up feeling a little bit fizzy due to beer and a nip of sake at 2am. We take a train into the centre of town and I stow my bag in a station locker. Yasuko and I meet Misako, another friend, for lunch. We go for a wander around Yokohama, it is utterly… Continue reading 49. Yokohama, Arena, 4 October 2001
This tour was the start of a new era. Radiohead’s “official” message board (RHMB) had taken off in a big way with the faithful and lots of people were making friends in real life. It was to be a Gentlemen’s Leisurely Tour of the Iberian Peninsula: five dates in Portugal and seven in Spain were… Continue reading 50, 51, 52. Lisbon, Coliseu dos Recreios. 22, 23, 24 July 2002
We have a day in between gigs and take the train to Porto. When we get there the station is decorated with traditional blue and white tiles, just another one of the pleasant little details that Portugal keeps unexpectedly throwing in my path. We jump into a taxi to our hotel. Just as we’re approaching… Continue reading 53. Porto, Coliseu do Porto, 26 July 2002