Oh boy. I have been thinking about this gig pretty much every hour since we managed to get tickets in early September. We have booked a whole holiday around it. Alasdair’s first time seeing Radiohead, and my first time in eight years. I could spend an entire entry trying to explain just how much it means to me to be able to see Radiohead live again, but I won’t. The anticipation was sky high, but the expectations were reasonable. I had an idea of the broad shape of the setlist going in, but still managed to get some surprises in there. The one-two kick off of Planet Telex and 2+2=5 is a blistering start, followed by rearrangements of a sort of Sit Down Stand Up (its explosive climax bolstered by Chris V’s presence and a hefty modular synth kick from Jonny Greenwood) and Bloom (tempo lowered into a blissed out groove). They break out Kid A and Talk Show Host for the first time this tour, I finally get to hear Videotape and How To Disappear Completely and There There, and so many more. I tear up a little at Weird Fishes and There There, unashamedly so. The band are on top form, and playing in the round does suit them. We’re in front of Jonny Greenwood so get to witness all the radio and Ondes and Max/MSP of it all. We also get to check off the “Jonny messes up and Thom Yorke calls him out on it” bingo card square, which is always fun. The cage and lighting are spectacular, additive without being distracting. It’s weird to play “guess what’s coming next” when the old colour scheme is gone; I briefly identify a D minor chord strummed with some slapback and think “well that’s Subterranean Homesick Alien”, but wait, Thom Yorke isn’t at the Rhodes or the piano, and dismiss it before realising it must be A Wolf At The Door - Alasdair restrains himself. The fact that I cannot tell you with certainty that the Roundhouse 2016 gig was better is quite something. Oh boy. Oh boy.