News ·
Radiohead's Glastonbury 1997 voted the greatest gig of all time
first posted on Treefingers by Miro · rewritten for the archive
Radiohead's Saturday-night headline set at Glastonbury on 28 June 1997 has been voted the greatest gig of all time in a poll of Q readers and contributors. PA News, reporting it on 28 April, called it a surprise winner. Nirvana at Reading in 1992 came second, while the Beatles on the roof of Apple's Savile Row offices in January 1969, their last public performance, could only manage seventh.
In the same week, Q's 50 Years of Rock special puts OK Computer second only to Nirvana's Nevermind among the 20 most important albums of the last 25 years, and ranks “Creep” third among the singles. The Bends is on the albums list too, and Radiohead are the only band with two records on it.
The night itself was the Pyramid Stage headline of the OK Computer tour, played, by PA's count, to 40,000 fans in the mud. The show page has the setlist. Michael Eavis, who runs the festival, has called it the most inspiring festival gig in 30 years.
Q's top 20 gigs
| Pos | Act | Gig | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiohead | Glastonbury | 28 June 1997 |
| 2 | Nirvana | Reading Festival | 30 August 1992 |
| 3 | Oasis | Knebworth | 10 and 11 August 1996 |
| 4 | Coldplay | V2003, Weston Park, Staffordshire | 17 August 2003 |
| 5 | Brian Wilson | Royal Festival Hall | 26 February 2004 |
| 6 | Madonna | Earls Court | 7 July 2001 |
| 7 | The Beatles | Apple HQ rooftop | 30 January 1969 |
| 8 | REM | Trafalgar Square | 29 April 2001 |
| 9 | Queen | Live Aid, Wembley Stadium | 13 July 1985 |
| 10 | Pink Floyd | Earls Court | 4 August 1980 |
| 11 | Sex Pistols | Screen on the Green, London | 29 August 1976 |
| 12 | Stone Roses | Spike Island | 27 May 1990 |
| 13 | U2 | Slane Castle | 25 August 2001 |
| 14 | Eminem | MEN Arena, Manchester | 8 February 2001 |
| 15 | Flaming Lips | Bristol Academy | 18 January 2003 |
| 16 | Stereophonics | Earls Court | 17 December 2003 |
| 17 | The Strokes | Heaven, London | 28 June 2001 |
| 18 | Red Hot Chili Peppers | Camden Palais | 14 June 1999 |
| 19 | The Libertines | The Forum, London | 18 December 2003 |
| 20 | The Verve | Slane Castle | 29 August 1998 |
the night
Worthy Farm, Pilton, 28 June 1997· p0lyph0nicwatch on youtube →