Radiohead raise £7,000 for Rwanda at the Old Gaol in Abingdon

Radiohead sold out the Old Gaol in Abingdon on Friday night for a Rwanda benefit that raised £7,000, and during “My Iron Lung” a woman from the crowd climbed on stage and danced round Thom Yorke, who forgot the words.

The crowd was mostly teenagers, and they roared when Yorke told them every song we play is for Rwanda¹. “Prove Yourself” opened the set, and “Creep” sat beside new songs including “Just” and “Black Star”. “My Iron Lung”, the new single, is out on Monday.

Ian Watson, reviewing for Melody Maker, hears the new songs building on what came before, and thinks “Creep” was the high point without dwarfing the rest.

The band met at Abingdon School, a few miles south of Oxford, and Watson calls them Abingdon's own pop group. After the show they sat talking with their parents and relatives.