Radiohead, the modern-rock band from England who have recently become well known, released Pablo Honey and have only one hit song, “Creep,” which has made them very popular among music fans over the past year. They have also managed to cross the Atlantic and become successful in America.
This event was held at MBK Hall, where most of the audience were teenagers. Some people had come because they genuinely wanted to see Radiohead, while some had come to see the Thai band Modern Dog.
There were approximately three thousand people in the audience, filling the designated area. The area that had been set aside for seating was closed, because tickets had been sold only for standing places.
At around eight o'clock, Modern Dog came out to perform. They received cheers from their fans. The singer danced energetically and the band played for approximately three or four songs.
The audience at the front of the stage was calling for Radiohead to come out quickly, while the people further back were pushing forward.

The five members of Radiohead came out and performed “You,” with Thom wearing a guitar and singing at the same time. Thom was wearing a T-shirt which, I was told afterwards, he had just bought from a shop in Bangkok. Johnny was wearing the shirt that had previously been seen in the music video for “My Iron Lung.” Ed was wearing short trousers. As for the other two, I could hardly see them because they were standing in a dark area.
Radiohead continued with “Prove Yourself,” followed by two unfamiliar new songs, “Just” and “Banana.” “Ripcord” was the song that really got the crowd going. The audience began jumping up and down to the rhythm and banging their heads. It was noticeable that the fans reacted to the modern-rock songs in much the same way they do at every concert: they jumped and shook their heads until the floor of MBK Hall seemed to shake.
The new song “Permanent” came next, followed by “Vegetable,” which the audience sang along with quite well. Radiohead then played two more new songs, “Killer Cars” and “Punch Drunk,” songs from the “My Iron Lung” single, which had not yet been released in Thailand. The fans were rather quiet because they were unfamiliar with them.
But when they began “How Do You,” everything changed completely. It was really exciting. The audience jumped until the floor almost seemed to collapse, and Radiohead then played their biggest hit, “Creep.” Naturally, the audience sang along very loudly. Even though the sound was loud, you could still hear Thom's voice clearly above it all.
Then came “My Iron Lung,” which was another popular song.
They followed it with the new song and single “Pop Is Dead.”
Radiohead continued with “Lurgee,” a slow song, and then “Stop Whispering,” during which everyone danced wildly. You could hear Thom shouting “F…” just before the final part of the song.
The final song before they went back inside was “Anyone Can Play Guitar,” which was considered another of the fans' favourites. Everyone jumped and screamed. Thom said goodbye to the fans, while Johnny turned around and waved to the audience before going backstage.

Many people thought they would not come back out after waiting for a while. However, they returned, with Thom coming out alone with an acoustic guitar to perform “Thinking About You,” a slow song. Although it was not a particularly well-known song, the fans listened attentively.
From the sound of the audience singing along, it was clear that many people knew the songs. They played another three songs and finished with “Blow Out,” which really got the people in MBK Hall excited. Thom said goodbye to the fans and also said that they would come back to Thailand.
Overall, the concert was a success. The audience sang along with the new songs, and the band gave it their all. It was a modern-rock concert that was genuinely exciting.

By Jak

With thanks to Khun Somjai Jiang of M-Line.

When the five members of Radiohead came to perform a concert in Thailand, we initially had the opportunity to conduct an exclusive interview. However, when we arrived at the appointed location, certain obstacles meant that the exclusive interview became a group interview instead.
We did our best to ask as many questions as possible for you to read. There may not be very many, because we did not have much opportunity to ask questions and had to share the interview with other members of the press. The following is part of the interview from that day.

Are you satisfied with your situation at this point?
Thom: (laughs) It depends on what you mean by “situation.”

I mean the fact that you have achieved this kind of success throughout the world.
Johnny: I think it's good. We have achieved a certain amount of success in terms of publicity. I think we've been successful because we've done a good job and given critics the impression that we have some good songs worth listening to, and that's something we've already proved.

When it comes to the song “Creep,” did you ever think at the beginning that it would become a hit all over the world?
Thom: No, I never thought we'd make a song that would become a hit. A song like “My Iron Lungs” is another difficult song.

And what about the guitars? In the band you have three guitarists. How does that work?
Johnny: It makes the arrangements of the songs more complicated, and it takes longer. But the result is very good.
Thom: It makes you have to work harder than before.

What do you think of Joe? He once said that he wanted to be the person who wrote “Creep.”
Thom: Well, it's a good song.
Ed: Bon Jovi? Oh, they're terrible. We like American rock, too, because the songs don't have much meaning — that kind of big American rock that people love. American kids grow up with things like that. You see Poison, who dress up like women and wear make-up, and kids want to be like them. They're all worried about appearances before they go on stage. They probably spend ages in front of the mirror, but English rock bands aren't like that.