Last week, I ticked off a long-standing bucket list item by seeing Radiohead live at the O2 on the final night of their tour in London.
Radiohead play No Surprises live at the O2
For years I’d imagined what it might feel like — the lights, the layered guitars, Thom Yorke’s voice echoing through a cavernous venue — and the real thing somehow managed to exceed all of it.
Their set was immersive, emotional and hypnotic and covered almost ever part of their incredible back catalogue recorded over 30 years. You can find the full listing of the gig they played on 25 November here
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/radiohead/2025/the-o2-arena-london-england-b40c9ce.html
I don't think that it's an exaggeration to say that Radiohead are the greatest band of my generation and I can trace large portions of my life through the albums that they released over the various decades.
I remember recording Creep on cassette tape from Australian radio station Triple J's hottest 100 in 1993. I'm sure I can't be the only 90s child who used to record tracks directly off the radio!
The track which the band would go onto hate (it definitely wasn't on the play list at the O2) was number 2 for that year behind Denis Leary's song 'Asshole' another unforgettable track for a then 11 year old. I'm pretty sure I've got that tape somewhere up in the attic still.
The Bends and OK Computer are arguably the greatest albums of the 1990s if not beyond. My dad had both of them on cassette tape which meant we'd listen to them in the car and I learned to play the drums to both albums.
The advantage of playing the drums to tracks on tape rather than CDs, which were making there way onto the market at that time, is that kicking the bass drum with any force would generally jump a CD. Tapes are bass proof!
Kid A and Amnesiac were perfect for my A level years. Very different from what had come before with their techno baselines and far fewer lyrics. The often scrambled words mirrored my inability to communicate with the world as a late teen struggling to make sense of the world.
Then came Hail to the Thief, released during my first year of studying politics at uni, its critique of global politics and multiple references to the Orwellian nightmare that the world seemed to slipping towards was very much in line with the way I saw things.
Shortly after In Rainbows was released I moved to China and it became the soundtrack for me to cycle across rush hour traffic to, dodging past fellow cyclists and crazy Chinese drivers.
In Rainbows felt like an amalgamation of the all the best bits of the previous 5 albums into 1 classic for the 21st Century. I don't think there are many bands in recent history who have managed to continue to develop musically in the way that Radiohead over thaat 15 year period.
I've often thought about writing a TTT for Radiohead but honestly I don't know if I'd be able to select only 3 tracks from the immense amount of quality work they've produced over the years. I think I'd have a short list of about 15 tracks and leaving a few of them out would be like Sophie's Choice.
However, by shortening down all their work to 25 tracks (they played an immense set and were on stage for well over 2 hours), Radiohead made it slightly easier for me to select 3 from that performance.
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
This is probably my favourite 21st century Radiohead song and as I'd been tracking the band's set lists from the gigs they'd played prior to London in Spain and Italy, I was pretty confident that I'd get to hear this one live - they delivered it as part of a 5 track encore.
The below is my full recording of the live version (the only song I recorded in full)
I'm not going to pretend that I can write about music by trying to use terms like arpeggios in a sentence but the results are pretty clear. In classic Radiohead style the song builds layer upon layer and then peaks with almost cathartic relief.
A few months ago this video came up on my Youtube feed.
I think this guy's physical and emotional reaction at about 7mins in describes what I mean.
Airbag
Is this the greatest opening guitar riff, on the greatest opening track on the greatest album of all time? It might just be!
This song reminds me of walking home from the pub slightly pissed and listening to OK Computer on my iPod. Maybe an odd choice of music for what should be a happy time but this track is remarkably uplifting despite the lyrics.
Definitely not a good track to drive home pissed to. An airbag may not save your life!
This was the 2nd track they played following on from 2+2=5, the opening track to Hail to the Thief.
They remained behind digital screens for the first 2 songs of the 25 song gig which then lifted to reveal the band and contribute to the immersive experience
Ultimately, Radiohead's music is best experienced in album form (another reason why they are tough to put a list of 3 single tracks together for) and so it was perhaps no surprise that they looked to structure their set in much the same way they would an album.
There There
I liked this track before I saw them live but I think I love it now.
Throughout the gig, the band moved seamlessly between instruments and occasionally invited guests on stage to fill in when they needed an extra pair of hands. I have no idea who these people were, the band didn't say more than about 6 words to the audience throughout but then it wasn't that type of gig and Radiohead have never been that type of band.
multi-percussion for There There
For this track, the final one of the encore, they had 2 drummers playing a full kit each and a 3rd percussionist on stage. You could feel the bass through your very soul and when the chorus kicked in, it felt like the roof might come off the O2.
Not my recording but I think a track that is worth experiencing live
Again, great choice as a final track for the gig.
There were a couple of tracks I was disappointed not to hear as I had seen they'd played them at a couple of gigs on the tour.
Subterranean Homesick Alien was the most played track on my iPod before smartphones took over all aspects of our life. I reckon it'd have been vying for a spot on this list.
A Wolf at the Door was also on the set list a few times at earlier gigs and is one of those songs that has grown on me over the years. I love the off beat percussion and lyrics in it and once it enters my head I can't get it out of there for days at a time.
Maybe they'll play them next time.
That of course depends more on if there is a next time. It seemed doubtful this tour would happen based on comments made by the band in recent years and it's not as if they've ever been prolific tourers. With no new material released during the tour (to date) then perhaps this was more a farewell party. If so, I'm even happier that I finally got to see them live!