Radiohead remember the disappeared at their first show in Argentina

Radiohead played their first concert in Argentina on Tuesday 24 March, the opening night of Quilmes Rock at the Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires. The date was the 33rd anniversary of the 1976 coup that began the country's last military dictatorship. Before “How to Disappear Completely”, the last song of the main set, Ed O'Brien read out a statement in Spanish.

Today is the 33rd anniversary of the military coup, and so we want to dedicate this song to all the victims and to the families of the disappeared.

Ed O'Brien²

The Argentine band La Portuaria and Kraftwerk played first, and Radiohead came on at about 9.20pm in front of a crowd put at 30,000 to more than 40,000. Reviewers described dozens of light tubes hanging over them like stalactites, changing colour from song to song.

The set ran to 26 songs over three encores and took in all of In Rainbows except “Faust Arp”. Three songs were new to the tour after Mexico City, Rio and São Paulo: “Planet Telex”, “2 + 2 = 5” and the In Rainbows B-side “Go Slowly”. Página/12 reported that at the start of “The National Anthem” Jonny Greenwood's radio picked up a Buenos Aires station live.

O'Brien also told the crowd that finally reaching Buenos Aires was a dream come true. Thom Yorke said little beyond “OK?” and “muchas gracias”. During “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” a shoe thrown from the crowd hit him in the face, and he sang on.

Setlist, Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires, 24 March 2009