Radiohead-ucation

On Tuesday I made my way across London and stood amongst thousands in The O2 Arena, eagerly awaiting Radiohead to take to the stage. Excitement and nerves raced as I wondered whether or not my preparation would be enough.

Only three weeks before I was lucky enough to get my hands on Radiohead tickets. However unlike my other half, I was not a massive fan. Sure I knew a few tracks but not enough to justify the money. So Chris (the aforementioned other half) took to the challenge of creating a fan.

Headphones in and hitting play on my ipod, I tentatively took my first steps into my Radiohead-ucation.  Keeping close tabs on me, Chris allowed me access to one album at a time. So I gradually made my way through their extensive discography.

I struggled my way through OK Computer and Kid A, falling in love with both but taking my time to wrap my head around the interesting arrangements. A quick listen to Amnesiac and the question of "when will I get to listen to stuff that I can sing along to" took me straight to The Bends. I was caught up in the catchy tunes and 'High and Dry' stayed in my head for days.

I have this fear at gigs of being the only one in the room who doesn't know the most popular songs. So I stepped away from my allocated listening and gave 'Creep', 'Karma Police' and 'Paranoid Android' multiple spins.

Jumping back on the album train, In Rainbows became top of the list. Melodic and much easier to listen and get involved with that Kid A and OK Computer. People claim it's Radiohead's best album and I have yet to find reason to disagree.

And then I ran out of time.

Opening with Lotus Flower and straight into Airbag, I was swept away in the fandom. Rotating screens  and a fantastic light show accompanied the band as they swiftly delved through all their anthems. Too many highlights to list but 'National Anthem', 'Everything In Its Right Place' and 'Idioteque' stole the show. 'Videotape' left me teary eyed and was a lovely addition to the set. It's a song I hold close to my heart and I was delighted to hear it. (As an aside, they didn't play Creep or Karma Police so I wasted my time on the best known tracks.)

It was one of the best live performances I have ever seen. They made sense of tracks that I had struggled to wrap my head round and brought new light on the songs I had fallen in love with. A large portion of the show covered tracks I didn't know but this didn't hinder my night. If a band can make me feel and enjoy a song thats new to me, they are worth every penny I payed for the experience. I am now most definitely a massive Radiohead fan.

Some numbers for you to ponder. I joined last.fm in May. My most listened to artist of all time is Radiohead (238 plays).  Second is Bon Iver (119 plays). I only started listening to Radiohead 3 weeks ago. That's a lot of Radiohead in a very short period of time.