Radiohead in 100 gigs
July arrives and a couple of extra dates have been added to the Italian tour. On the 6th, I fly to Bergamo, the little regional airport served by budget airlines handily located for the first gig of this leg of the tour. Bergamo’s old town is a beautiful historic hill settlement once ruled by the… Continue reading 62. Bergamo, Il Lazzaretto di Bergamo, 7 July 2003
Overwhelmed by actually being in actual Florence, I’m glad of the little studio apartment that I found on the internet. We are conveniently located at the bottom of a large flight of steps, with the venue Piazza Michelangelo (basically a car park with a giant replica of the famous David statue and a fantastic view… Continue reading 63 & 64, Florence, Piazza Michelangelo, 8 & 9 July 2003
Going on tour has become an increasingly social activity, meeting up with people from the Message Board, travelling and sharing accommodation with them. Running into the regulars before the show is par for the course. The whole Italian trip had been a holiday that just happened to have five Radiohead gigs for us to plan our time… Continue reading 65. Ferrara, Piazza Castello, 11 July 2003
Next day, Kim is coming over from London, a last minute budget airline trip to make use of one of my spare tickets. We have a leisurely day eating, drinking and dodging in and out of air conditioned shops while exploring the streets, never venturing too far from the venue in case we miss something.… Continue reading 66. Ferrara, Piazza Castello, 12 July 2002
Over the summer Hail To The Thief is released in the UK accompanied by a hail of promo. Radiohead are everywhere. I go to an Edinburgh Film festival screening of some of the “Radiohead TV” videos, at the big Odeon cinema with Melody. EMI’s share price is in the news. The band tour the USA,… Continue reading 67. Manchester, MEN Arena, 22 November 2003
A train to Newcastle, where it is even colder than Manchester. Really bitterly cold, windy and wet. Travelling light, I don’t have all the usual winter paraphernalia I would have in Scotland. Yasuko has a room for us in the nearest budget hotel to the arena, if I had any sense I’d go to back… Continue reading 68. Newcastle, Arena, 23 November 2003
Yasuko has found a cheap B&B near Earls Court and we all load in. There are more boardies here than in Newcastle, I catch up with a few people and try to avoid the one or two who give me weird vibes. The guest tickets are for block 18, nearest the stage and tantalisingly close… Continue reading 69. London, Earls Court, 26 November, 2003
Tonight’s seat is in block 2 on the opposite side, still close to the stage. We seem to have more room. I have called in Meg, a friend from University now resident in London, to use the spare. She notes that Miranda Richardson, Queenie herself, is sitting behind us. Half way through the show we… Continue reading 70. London, Earls Court, 27 November 2003
I spend another day in London. I make a deal with Ken to get a lift up to Nottingham. I’d half planned to go to my parents' for the night but it feels like a bad idea to break the tour again. Ken drives me in his BMW – Rh fans come in all shapes,… Continue reading 71. Nottingham, Ice Arena, 29 November 2003
Nov 30, Glasgow SECC I bunk in with Yasuko and her boyfriend and share a very early taxi ride to the airport for my early flight back to Glasgow. It’s still early when I get home and I go to bed but foolishly don’t turn my phone off. I have a couple of hours before… Continue reading 72. Glasgow, SECC Arena, 30 November 2003