Radiohead play Reading's main stage a year after pulling out

Radiohead played the main stage of the Reading Festival at Little John's Farm on Saturday 27 August, a year after they pulled out of Reading late with trouble in Thom Yorke's throat. Yorke began the set alone, singing Tim Buckley's “Sing a Song for You” unaccompanied until the band came in with “Bones”. Pulp, Manic Street Preachers and Ice Cube were on the same stage, and Primal Scream closed the night.

Five of the 13 songs are not in the shops yet. “Bones”, “The Bends”, “Just” and “Maquiladora” are new, and “My Iron Lung” is still a month from its release as an EP; the rest come from Pablo Honey and the early singles.

Andrew Mueller, reviewing the day for Melody Maker, found the set surprisingly ineffectual. The songs never took off on the big stage, he thought, and weren't built to fill it. “Creep” was the exception. The crowd clapped along to it, which struck him as slightly surreal, and he heard in it a simple, direct stadium anthem. The set ended with “Anyone Can Play Guitar”, and Mueller noted drily that they made it sound as if anyone could.

Setlist