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Radiohead's three tent nights at Punchestown split the critics
Radiohead put their tent up at Punchestown Racecourse, near Naas in County Kildare, for three nights on 6, 7 and 8 October, in the week Kid A came out. John Lane of The Irish Times was there on the Friday, when the set opened with “The National Anthem” and ran close to two and a half hours, most of it Kid A and newer songs. On the Saturday the first encore took in a cover of Can's “Thief”, and on Sunday the band brought out “Bones”, “Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was” and the B-side “Pearly*”.
From inside, the custom-built big top looked to Lane like a set from Alien, with about 10,000 people in it and screens around the edge for those at the back. The crowd had come for the older songs, he writes, but the band played those with less passion than the new, and only “Paranoid Android” matched the Kid A material for intensity. His high point was “Idioteque”. He rates the sound near-perfect and the lighting spectacular.
James McCartney of musicOMH found the set self-indulgent and incoherent. To him the new songs had no tunes and no riffs, the light show was no Pink Floyd, the sound was poor and the singalongs drowned Thom Yorke out. Only “Karma Police”, “No Surprises” and “Paranoid Android” won him over, and he left before the final encore.
Punchestown, October 2000
| Date | Venue | Opened with | Encores |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 October 2000 | Punchestown Racecourse | The National Anthem | I Might Be Wrong, Street Spirit (Fade Out), The Bends, Pyramid Song; Motion Picture Soundtrack, Karma Police |
| 7 October 2000 | Punchestown Racecourse | The National Anthem | Just, Thief (Can), Exit Music (For a Film), Pyramid Song; Motion Picture Soundtrack, Street Spirit (Fade Out) |
| 8 October 2000 | Punchestown Racecourse | Optimistic | Airbag, Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was, The Bends, Pyramid Song; Motion Picture Soundtrack, My Iron Lung |