"There are a lot of people out there who want to tear us to pieces," Radiohead's vocalist Thom E Yorke told the churning, cheering hordes who had gathered at Manchester University, communicating a surprising lack of confidence in the face of such reassuring adulation.

But then Radiohead are one step removed from most of the ego surfers who ride the rock wave. Yorke's lyrics on that extraordinary slice of self-examination, Creep, suggest a deficient sense of self-worth but, more significantly, provide a rare example of pop being used to express genuine feelings.

It was probably Creep, last year's smash single, that had drawn most of the packed audience to the gig but, by the end, the band had shown that one-hit wonders they are not. On the contrary, they are arguably the best live act currently stomping a crowded circuit.

In fact, this performance left their debut album, Pablo Honey, looking a strangely uneven affair. The five-piece, underpinned by some impeccably tight interplay between drums and bass, delivered a set of controlled venom, reminiscent of Bowie's Ronson-led Spiders From Mars.

Opening with a familiar tune, You, the band switched back and forth between old and new, with Bones, an unheard song, quite sensational - taut tremolo distortions and a chorus built on layers of dissonant harmony.

'I'm scared shitless," Yorke remarked. Well, if anxiety - sheer terror even - is the key to cracking it, this group seems to possess the magic ingredient in the required quantity.