Radiohead tour America for Amnesiac, leaving the tent at home

Radiohead's American summer opened at The Woodlands, outside Houston, on 18 June and runs through amphitheatres to 30 June, with an August leg in the East and the Midwest and more dates to come. The circus tent the band played in across Europe last year has stayed behind, because getting it over proved impractical. The Beta Band open.

Rolling Stone, previewing the tour, calls these the only major American shows for Amnesiac, the second batch of songs from the Kid A sessions. Phil Selway says the band's old shows were copies of the records, and that the new songs found fresh life once they started playing them last year.

You couldn't do Kid A live and be true to the record. You would have to do it like an art installation.

Ed O'Brien¹

Playing to hardcore fans, he says, made the songs human again.

The schedule is far lighter than the two years on the road that followed OK Computer, and Selway says the band chose to do less so that what they do is better.

Touring is a vital part of Radiohead, but you don't want it to be your life.

Phil Selway¹