Radiohead – Victoria Park, London

Like seemingly half of London – Kimbo and I headed down to Victoria Park for the second of Radiohead’s two hometown shows for their 2008 World tour.
It was actually a bit of a trek – so we arrived at the park in time to hear Radiohead drifting across to us as we wandered into the gates and found a spot in amongst a nicely civilised crowd of around 32,000.
Drawing mostly from their post-‘Kid A’ material, it was good to hear a few oldies in the mix, including “Lucky” early on in the set, and a crowd-pleasing “No Surprises”.
The stage set-up was very impressive – the sound was excellent from the few different spots we tried. And the video screens on either side of the stage were fantastic – crystal clear separate images of all band members, utilising unusual camera positioning (like birds-eye view directly above front-man Thom York) – and resembled more of a well-produced music video than the standard crappy camera focussed on the lead-singer that you usually get at concerts.
The lighting effects were also astounding, with long beams hanging down to the stage and around the band, that could both light-up different colours and also, seemingly display footage within them (or maybe this was projected onto them?).
The main set came to a close with a great double-header of “Everything in it’s Right Place” leading into “Idioteque” – two of my favourite Radiohead songs from their recent twitchy-pop period.
We started making our way out of the park as the encore’s commenced, but it was great to hear “The Bends” and other classics drifting across as we slowly made our way to the exit.

Full setlist:
01. Reckoner
02. 15 Step
03. There There
04. All I Need
05. Lucky
06. Nude
07. Wierd Fishees / Arpeggi
08. Myxomatosis
09. The National Anthem
10. Faust Arp
11. No Surprises
12. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
13. Optimistic
14. Videotape
15. Everything in its Right Place
16. Idioteque
17. Bodysnatchers

Encore 1
18. House of Cards
19. The Bends
20. Bangers 'n' Mash
21. My Iron Lung
22. Karma Police

Encore 2
23. Go Slowly
24. 2+2=5
25. Paranoid Android