David Gray remembers supporting Radiohead in 1995

David Gray supported Radiohead on two tours in 1995. He played many support tours around America and the UK, and says most were miserable. Radiohead were the exception. They made sure his band got soundchecks and looked after them, and the whole touring party felt good about it.

He watched them grow. On the first tour they were nervously playing The Bends while “Creep” was still their only big hit; by the second they had moved up a gear, with a confidence that told him they had wriggled free of “Creep”. Thom Yorke was writing songs for OK Computer and playing them at soundchecks.

The night he remembers best was in Toronto, where Radiohead were given a platinum disc in front of their record company. Gray's band had already finished their rider by the end of Radiohead's set, and in the maze of club rooms they stumbled into the presentation, crawling about on all fours and getting into the photographs. Back in the dressing rooms they had emptied the ice onto their own floor and covered it in crisps, which made it good for moonwalking, so they did the same to Radiohead's. They heard later that Radiohead had cleaned up after them.