Review by Tom: I am stunned. My first ever Radiohead gig, I mean I waited for 4 years and they just delivered the most incredibly amazing performance I have and probably ever will see. The exhibition centre was a really good venue and the atmosphere was spellbounding. I think it's cause us folk in the very north of scotland don't get to witness special bands too often so when we do, we really let loose! The whole band seem so upbeat, and really passionate about what they are doing just now. I kind of expected few words from Thom but he was chatting away loads and Ed was really encouraging the crowd. And another thing, I never new how good a dancer Thom was, he was jumping around to all the "beatsy" type songs and was just a ball of energy. They opened with "The Gloaming" which is just amazing live and so much better than on CD. They played a blindingly good setlist and there was only a couple of songs I was upset at them not playing: "Street Spirit", "Like Spinning Plates", "Karma Police" and "Fake Plastic" but it's hard to fit them in when u have SO many amazing songs. I can't pick out specific highlights because the whole thing was a higlight but I couldn't believe it when they played "Creep". I knew they'd been throwing it in here and there but I didn't think we'd hear it. They closed the night out with "Everything In It's Right Place" and they were so right, it was. They gave us a performance to remember but I think the Aberdeen crowd gave them something to remember aswell. The whole band seemed amazed at the crowds passion for their music and I'm sure on the night, everyone went away amazed.

Review by Derek: This was an excellent set, full of surprises and changes to the normal play list that the band have been touring with over the past nine months.

It started with "The Gloaming" as the opener which was certainly unexpected but absolutely fantastic. Perhaps not one of the highlights of "Hail to the Thief" but played live it was quite incredible. Full to bursting point with nervy twitching electronics before ending with the most incredible crash including scratching over the top - completely mesmerising.

Generally it was a night where the more recent stuff off of the last three LPs shown through. Particularly noticeable was the tracks from Hail to The Thief which seem to have grown immeasurably over the tour.

"Myxomatosis" was obscenely good - the pounding electronic noise like a siren as Thom spitted out veiled snipes at those well known thief's. After such intensity it was left to the beautiful Pyramid Song to sooth, with Thoms vocals searing even in the empty barn of an exhibition centre.

The biggest let down was "Creep", many will disagree but amongst such imaginative sonic experimentation it sounds little more than a half decent mid 90s indeed track.

"I might be wrong" was up next as the funky guitar and squechie electronics took over, still sounds like the best track Underworld let get away.

Again "Hail to The Thief" sounded great with "Sit Down, Stand Up" and the wonderful "Go to Sleep", with Thom really spitting out "Over my dead body". It was then on to a brace of "OK Computer" classics; "Paranoid Android" never fails to astound but it was the sleepy space station of "Exit Music" which really amazed. After the end (with chant of "We hope that you choke") Thom quipped "Have another pretzel Mr Bush".

A blissed out trip through "Idioteque" and then back for the bombing drums of "There There", left the crowd anticipating more. The first encore was a great treat, with "The National Anthem" sounding even more scary with snippets of Radio 4 mixed into the intro. Then it was "A punch-up at a wedding" which has again taken on a whole new identity compared to those early MP3s from the pre "Hail to the Thief" tour in Portugal. Played at a far greater tempo with Johnny producing an all mighty funky guitar, this worked extremely well live,

The best was last though with the most amazing version of "Everything in its right place", towards the end the band went off one by one until it was just Johnny messing about with a crazy sonic buzz, then trotting off leaving everyone staring at the closing light show reading "OVERFOREVER" while THAT SOUND kept on ringing for a good five minutes.

So I a triumph for "Kid A" and "Hail to the Thief" over the older more traditional tracks. Once again Radiohead proved that successful does not immediately equate to dumbing down or relinquishing artistic imagination.

Can we have more bands following this example please?

Review by qzdiablo: it was gash. truly shocking. a spectacle so dire it was like no other event the world had ever seen. a real let down. fans stormed the pay desk at the aecc, demanding their money back. seats were slashed.

ok, that was a lie, of course. radiohead, for the best part, put on a quality show for two hours and the fans lapped it up like hungry kittens to a saucer of cream. but then radiohead haven't been up here for six years so the fans were always going to. there wasn't enough to fill the p+j arena. it says something about the people of aberdeen when the stereoponics' (who played the aecc the previous monday) sell out their gig but there are spaces remaining at radiohead. nevertheless, the place was packed and the atmosphere was electric, yada yada...

asian dub foundation emerged from the shadows at 7:45 and proceeded to make some loud, fairly angry noises. personally, i'm not familiar with their material but it was nice and shouty, energetic, the sort of thing one would want from a support act to get the crowd warmed up. they tried to engage with the crowd, but didn't get much of a response from anyone not near the front. they could certainly bust a groove though, their mcs participating in some nuttah dancing. they also had a guy with a big drum. this is never a bad thing.

radiohead reared their ugly heads at a quarter to nine, opening with "the gloaming" as they have reportedly done for most of this tour. jonny greenwood sampled thom yorke saying "hello aberdeen" and proceeded to loop that sample and play it over the song. "the gloaming" has more percussive elements played live than on "hail to the thief", and was almost danceable. this was followed by "2+2=5", which being the most recent single and most heavily aired radiohead tune of the past month, the crowd went ballistic for. there was much pogoing and shoving. this continued through a somewhat pedestrian version of "my iron lung" where yorke attempted to read the lyrics through his nose as opposed to singing them. on witnessing the fracas of fans at the front of the stage, he interrupted the song to inform the audience "stop pushing, or you'll get chucked out". the mellee ceased, the once aggressive pseudo-mosh-pit whimpered meekly. i bet he gets off on having that kind of power.

"lucky" was an early highlight, stunning the spectators and causing one to shout "f--kin' magic min, f--kin' amazing, bunch o' legends!", or words to that effect. "myxomatosis" was also impressive, coming across as a straight-ahead, dirty rock song as opposed to the electro-bleeping bastardisation that is the studio version. yorke dedicated this to bush (george w. bush, not the band) and blair, his "two favourite people". this was the first of many anti-us/anti-uk government jibes and it seemed he expected a medallion for slagging them off. they performed "creep" and the crowd went absolutelyfuckingmental. idiots.

"i will" sounded great considering yorke sang it alone, naturally only able to sing one vocal part as opposed to three. the outro of "go to sleep" was extended, with a different bassline from elliott smith look-a-like, colin greenwood. the crowd wouldn't shut up during "exit music" and yorke seemed a bit riled. as the gig wore on, ed o'brien donated a bottle of water to be passed round the hot, thirsty crowd. he had his own little show going on at one side of the stage. it consisted of him smiling and giggling w/ the audience and lip-synching along w/ the lyrics to the songs in a melo-dramatic fashion. he should take it on tour, call it "the ed o'brien show", market it at old and young alike. he'd make millions. radiohead concluded the set with "there there", which was played unusually slowly and sadly sounded a bit tame. the encores compensated for this mis-hap however. "sail to the moon" was note-perfect and "the national anthem" was thankfully played at the correct speed and all the better for it. the final encore consisted of "we suck young blood", during which o'brien and colin greenwood initially failed to get the crowd to clap slowly to we suck young blood, rather than bang their hands together like they were at a bon jovi concert. the penultimate number, "the bends" surprised the crowd, in a pleasant way as opposed to a nasty way, for example, getting hit by a bus. during closer "everything in its right place", hilarity ensued when o'brien's sampler packed in and an engineer (who, it should be noted, looked like irish actor colm meany) had to belt it on stage to replace it. he failed, jonny greenwood was left to do all that mad, loopy stuff in the outro. but, yeah, like... it was good. worth every penny of the extortionally priced ticket. now all i have to do is wait another six years till they decide to come here again.

review by jamie smith: "When you where here before....." Still can't believe they played creep! Suprisingly it wasn't the highlight of the night tho. well, maybe it was one of them!! This was the first time i've seen radiohead, been waiting about 6years to do so and it totally beat my expectations! Managed to get a good standing speck about 5meters from Ed, but when all hell broke loose on 'my iron lung' i got shoved a bit further back, but in line with the center of the stage, so can't really complain. Thought the setlist was fantastic. If I had picked 3songs to hear from The Bends then 'Just'; 'My Iron Lung' and 'The Bends' would probably have been them, so to have all three played in one night was fantastic! 'There there' was much better live than on the album, as was 'Where I end and you begin' , but the highlight of new songs would have to be 'Myxomatosis' with Thom strutting round the stage singing to the crowd. the lighting was fantastic throughout and I will never forget the back wall flashing as Jonny crunched away on his guitar! Amazing sight. Didn't think the night could get much better, but it did 'I might be wrong' was sensational, as was exit music (apart from a select few who kept whistling during the quieter parts). Was a bit dissapointed with 'a punch-up at a wedding' and would have liked to have seen'wolf at the door' or 'street spirit' instead, but you can't have everything I suppose. Overall was a truely wonderful night I will never forget!!

Jamie

Review by Kip: I'll be brief. This was worth the cold wait outside. It was worth the jet lag I'm still experiencing. I'd seen Radiohead at the Shoreline Amphitheatre on 23 Sept., and got a real charge from it, instantly wanting to see them again. My friend Dan mentioned that there were still tickets for the Aberdeen show. I hadn't left the US for 8 years, and it just sounded right. We got our tickets and we went. Before I'm tempted to sound like an old salt, let me mention that I've seen them four times, and if it sounds like more, then I'm overdramatizing. It was pretty chilly standing in line, though plenty of natives were dressed in short sleeves. The doors opened and we easily managed to get down in the center, one person ahead of each of us on the railing. I'd been this close to the band only once before, at the Galaxy in St. Louis on 8 Aug. 1997. They're considerably more in control of their environment now. They came out (after ADF's set), and Thom sort of moaned "Aberdeen" a few times, and they started playing "The Gloaming". I hadn't been nearly as close at Shoreline, and it was much nicer seeing the expressions on their faces without need of the monitors. Thom did some Hunchback leers, goofing around with the crowd and reminding me of old Johnny Rotten now and then. They both seem to like being the fool. He shook his head at the crowd when pushing began, with a very matter-of-fact expression. Somewhere in the first few songs (someone please fill in where for me), he addressed the crowd by saying you'd get tossed out if you pushed. They all played well as far as I could hear. I hadn't heard "Lucky" for a long time, and was glad when they rolled it out. "Pyramid Song" surprised me, and "Creep" surprised me more. I didn't expect to hear either of them. The floor was really churning during quicker songs, and though I didn't like being pressed, after a while the closeness of all those people felt good. Squeezing in a sweating herd to hear Radiohead isn't the worst thing that can happen to you in a night. When I finally gave up my spot down in the pack, I saw that even some of the parents in the back were clapping and cheering. I can't tell you how odd it was to see some guy my father's age (I'm talking 60 here) yelling and cheering at the end of "National Anthem". Maybe he didn't even bring his kids, I don't know. I have to say that all the people I met, Scots and otherwise, were friendly and kind. Yes, I got jabbed in the ribs once or twice, and someone's skull smashed my nose pretty good, but I didn't get asked to defend the US's policies once (not that I would have). It was a great show in a great place with great people, and I'm glad I took my only shot at vacation and spent it this way. I'd love to go back and see them in Aberdeen again, and I'm just sorry I couldn't stay longer and see the last two shows in Dublin. But I only had a few hours sleep before a long plane ride. It was worth it.

Review by Andrew: Had the support been better, this would’ve been the best show ever. As it was, The Asian Dub Foundation put in plenty of energy, and a solid piece of songwriting, but sadly their style and sound wasn’t to my taste. They did get a cracking reception, and telling a crowd of Aberdonians that their better than Glaswiegens always goes down well.

Radiohead entered to a deafening amount of noise from what to me looked a huge turnout, and they gave a quite wonderful performance. The thought of Thom’s quite weird and eccentric dancing will forever be able to put a childish grin on my face. Walking on to the sound of “The Gloaming”, Radiohead quickly threw themselves into “2+2=5”, one of the many highlights of the night. There are few tracks that can get an entire audience throwing themselves about wildly, in a way that many will never do gain.

Old favourites “My Iron Lung” and “Lucky” were amongst a few tracks before the double whammy of the “Pyramid Song”, and “Creep”. Quite probably the two most contrasting songs of Radiohead's discography. What does need special mention is the stunning light show that accompanied each track. One moment you thought you were watching the opening credits to the Matrix, the next you were as Bruce Springsteen once sang, Blinded By The Light. Of the light hearted moments of the night, Thom Yorke dedicated Creep to Dick Chaney and Colin Powel. Something that was the main point of communication between the band and audience, was a hatred for the war in Iraq.

Before the closing, “Paranoid Android” was belted out, another excuse for 7,000 mad Aberdonians to throw themselves about the place. Closing the initial set with “There There”, which was my highlight of the night. It’s only upon seeing and hearing it live that you can appreciate fully what a great, even stunning track it is. Three of the band on drums. Thom delivering vocals in a traditional fashion, then it hits you. Chord after chord and rip-roaring riff after riff for a minute and a half, then finish. Stunning to say the least.

The two encores were both well received, including a personal favourite (A Punch Up At A Wedding) with the only low light not getting a chance to hear Karma Police live. But after a show such as it was, I cant and couldn’t complain. I’ve never seen a better concert, and don’t know if I ever will. Wonderful.

Review by bbEZ_2003: first time i've seen Radiohead in Concert but probably the best gig i've ever seen. Their set was fantastic and absolutely out of this world. Thom Yorke & the band strutted his their and were better than the studio release performances. An absolute awesome experience. This band shall be with us for a long time to come....

Review by Hong: We turned up at 7:30pm and got a spot in the second row, just in front of where Ed stands. By the time the magnificent Asian Dub Foundation had finished, my ears were starting to bleed. This was the fifth Radiohead concert of the year and the first one so close up. You get a completely different perspective and you feel the music a lot more at the front. I watched Colin and I have to apologise to him for implying that he did not do much. During the first half of 2+2=5, he concentrated on taping up his finger, so I thought that it was indeed true that he skulked around at the back doing not very much. But he played the guitar, he played a couple of sticks, a little keyboard on Idioteque and on Pyramid Song he played the cello, while Jonny stood around doing nuffink. So, Colin is great. Pay him the same as the rest of the chaps, whom this morning's Press and Journal (Aberdeen's local newspaper and sponsors of the venue) referred to as "slightly nerdy band members".

They played Creep again and the crowd went wild. Paranoid Android is excellent live and it always reminds me of Bohemian Rhapsody because it shifts gear so many times. There were too many good ones to single out the best, but on the plane coming home I could not get the tune to "Lucky" out of my head. Colin's ner-ner-ner ner ner-ner ner-ner ner on the National Anthem is a fine testament to his musical talents and I salute him.

The hotel was next door to the venue, so it was very convenient to nip out in a tee-shirt, not needing to worry about where to hang your coat. The crowd was mostly standing but very well behaved. Thom told some of them mid-song that if they didn't stop pushing they would get thrown out. But it was a great gig. Snaps are currently in Snappy Snaps, but I hope they can be on the hong-international website in a day or two, if they are any good. I hope my ears make a full recovery, but they deserved the treat they got last night.

Hong

Review by Scott: A fantastic night, and one full of surprises, starting with "the gloaming" as the opener. A geeky part of me wonders if this was a nod to being in darkest north-east scotland ("gloaming" being a guid scots word), and the atmosphere outside the gig -- black as midnight, creepy moon, a frigid north sea wind -- certainly feeling like "the witching hour". Anyway, that choice of opener seemed to fairly baffle about half the crowd. "2+2=5" certainly made up for it though, the huge build-up to the chorus inducing the first of many thronging jumpy bits. Other highlights: a harder-edged "where i end and you begin", amazing lighting effects for "lucky", a belligerent "myxamatosis", the truly spine-tingling solo rendition of "i will", a blistering "i might be wrong" -- one of their best songs, live, i reckon -- a weapons-grade "national anthem", the surprisingly moving "drunken punchup", and a mesmerized "we suck young blood", with devotional audience participation. Not to speak of "creep", which was somehow utterly contemptuous and utterly sincere. Perhaps to match his CND t-shirt Thom changed the lyrics to "I want a perfect body / And a nuclear missile". Impressed that Jonny still seems really up for that song. Thom was on playful, smiling form, Colin was bopping about the stage smiling and waving, and Jonny gave his usual impression of a very earnest schoolboy trying to get things just so. Couldn't really see much of Phil or Ed from where I was standing. The crowd was in buoyant mood, and mostly up for the heavier numbers. A sort of respectful indifference to the likes of "Pyramid Song" from about half.

Some unspecified technical trouble of Ed's made "everything" fall a little flat, and "idioteque" felt restrained to me, but it was magnificent overall. It seems odd to mention, but it's hard to describe just how clever and brilliant the lighting design is -- it's not often you catch people nudging their friends, mouths agape and pointing, asking "did you see THAT??!!" I hadn't heard much of ADF before last night, but they went down surprisingly well to a 99% white audience. Possibly this was a warm-up/tinkering session ahead of the climactic Dublin gigs -- if so, look out!!

Review by Phil: I guess everyone knows that the reviews are gonna be favourable to radiohead, but can i just say that the support band, Asian Dub Foundation were fantastic? nobody really seemed to be dancing or getting into them but some were nodding their heads- not what such a groovy outfit deserved. Dr Das' bass alone merited some proper skanking... What's with you people, Aberdeen? Radiohead were amazing etc etc my life is complete and so forth.

Review by Willis: Well, what a night, we arrived an hour before the doors opened. Heard the band soundcheck In Limbo, Punch Up and The Gloaming, not sure if they rehearsed any others before we arrived. It was absolutely freezing in the queue outside the AECC. ADF were alright, not really my cup of tea though ! Eventually the moment arrived, Radiohead took to the stage with The Gloaming, Thom repeating "Aberdeen" at the start. The place was rockin' by the time they got to My Iron Lung and Thom warned someone "You better stop that or you'll get kicked out" jerking with his thumb towards the exit. We were pretty near the front and some drunken louts who appeared as Radiohead took to the stage, announcing "Let's get to the front !" proceeded to try and barge through during each song. When they couldn't get past us, one of the little shits tried to burn my top with his fag and got a right mouthful from me I can tell you.
After that things calmed down a bit, although the guys to my left were drinking heavily, smoking dope and popping pills openly from a plastic bag... fortunately my attention was now focused on the stage. Thom announced "Have another pretzel Bush... well that's me off the honours list !" before launching into Myxomatosis. Highlights from the main set for me were I Will, Go to Sleep and Just. The audience appreciation was very vocal and seemed to be much appreciated, Ed and Colin couldn't stop smiling throughout. They finished the main set with There There at the end of which Ed threw his drumsticks into the crowd... he threw one right towards me, but when I looked up I was dazzled by the light and couldn't see it at all, it landed just behind me, bummer !
The Encores were fantastic with No Surprises and The Bends being personal highlights, I can tell you now that this was the best version of The Bends I've heard them play for a long time. They finished with EIIRP, something went wrong with Ed's gizmo at the start, Thom stopped and said "Did you get that Ed ?" Ed looking bamboozled sent his tech guy to get another piece of kit, and eventually they reached the climax of the show, leaving one at a time to rapturous applause and cheering,

Review by Al: So the mighty "head" made it all the way up north to the frozen depths of Aberdeen!

With ADF giving a barnstorming, boombastic performance, the scene was set for something a bit special.

By the time Thom et al came on stage tension had risen, pulses were racing and the boys did'nt let us down by opening with the show stopping The Gloaming!? Yeah that's right the "Gloaming!" Hardly a song to open a set with to allow the masses to let rip with the excitement we had been holding in our bellies for the last 6 years. (The last time Radiohead ventured this far north)

Still by the time 2+2=5 arrived, the teasing of the audience was well and truly over and what followed was truly memorable. Greats including My Iron Lung, Just, There There, Paranoid Android and Pyramid Song united the masses in what can only be described as a feeling of sheer awe and appreciation. Backed by a lighting "wall" that looked like a cheep version of a Matrix opening title sequence, the audience were mesmerised by Thom's onstage dancing(?)/antics.

What really was the show stopper was in the middle of the set where Thom dedicated the next song to his "favourite people in the world" Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Creep held the audiences breath, with each of us asking each other, "are we really hearing this?" Still the song is now but minor weapon in an Arsenal of songs that in time (or maybe not as long as we think) will be hailed as all time classics.

Not all hail to the theif's more like all hail to the mighty "HEAD!!!!"

Al Logan

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