“I went into catering and the band were all sitting there, eating their dinner!” gushed the girls next to me, as we eagerly awaited the beginning of what was to surely be my gig of the year. “And d'you know what‘? The lead singer's dyed his hair orange!”
Having been unable to avoid knowing this over the past few months, I was somewhat surprised and was, therefore, relieved to see a bloke nearby with spiky, dyed orange hair... He'd obviously noticed, then.
After this strange beginning, it was brilliant to see the lads finally grace us with their presence. Thom and Ed looked stunning in their, erm, very white, huge trainers, while Colin was displaying his homage to the support (following Jonny's example of his recent Strangelove T-shirt statement) with a delightful Sparklehorse top. But most importantly, at least to me, was what they were wearing on their faces - smiles. And they weren't just sneaky, corners-of-the-mouth smiles that only appear when nobody's looking. These were full blown, teethy, happy GRINS.
As Radiohead rip into The Bends, the hall erupts, and not only off-stage, either. Ed bobs around, laughing at anything anybody says as if this is his first successful gig, and even Colin can't help but smile serenely.
The band have changed dramatically since I saw them in February. The now well-established songs have so much more vitality and new ones such as Subterranean Homesick Alien and Man of War bode extremely well for the third album.
“I suppose you want us to play this one?” Thom would've spat twelve months ago before launching into Creep. Now, however, it is delivered with a wry smile, proving to us that at last he has accepted what had become their frustratingly constrictive ball-and-chain single. And so, although not the highlight of the gig (Lucky and Stop Whispering slip easily into that category) Thom and the other four superheroes’ obvious acceptance of _ their role and, indeed, their enjoyment of it, is what provides the amazingly electric atmosphere tonight.
As I anticipated, it is without doubt my gig of the year.

Southampton
The Guildhall
7 Nov 95
Howard T Gudgeon

“Where do we go from here?” begs Thom Yorke, as the metal calms from its sudden hammering spells The Bends. Radiohead are launching into their final appearance of the year and fronster Thom has a point. Where indeed?
The Bends, the album, is quite possibly one of the most innovative pieces of music to come out of this country since Floyd's heyday or Zeppelin’s demise. And yet, its poor showing in the charts remains THE mystery of ‘95.
Bones follows the opener, Jonny's half-cropped barnet swirling with every thrash of his axe, and Anyone Can Play Guitar clears the path for the melodic faves. High and Dry soars, Creep, inevitably, inspires and new single Lucky gets a well received airing.
“Hello Southampton,” remembers Thom, as Jonny switches to keyboards for the reverb intro of Planet Telex — and we're off again. An almighty strobe light picks out the stripes on Thom's dubious shirt as the crowd start to burn. My Iron Lung and Just further the mayhem before the strobe hits back, firing off the sweat of the singer's brow, urging the climactic Blow Out to a breathless fade.
To the genius of Fake Plastic Trees, a moment's departure. A four-song encore treats, and farewells are bade with the last, Stop Whispering — we did.

Reprinted with permission from Splash! Dec 1995.