Radiohead – 93 Feet East, London 16/01/08

10:30
A reasonably ordinary start to the day at work. Just finished off some mid-week invoices and settled down to enjoy a mid-morning tea whilst browsing through the regular online music rags. Just 15 minutes.

10:45
The word is officially out. Everywhere it seems. ‘RADIOHEAD PLAY ROUGH TRADE RECORDS’. I’ve literally gone sheet-white. What should I do? Should I stay at work for the rest of the day, miserable and mumbling incoherently to myself of the regret of missing one of my favourite bands play the most intimate concert in 15 years or should I go. Panic takes over, and I’m pacing around, biting my nails.

11:02
Right, I can do this. I really can. I will. I must. I enter my department manager’s office and a number of ideas and excuses enter my head. “I have to go because of a) Family situation. b) I’m feeling a little under the weather and need to go home or c) Dentist/Doctor’s appointment. In the end, I scratch that. I’m a terribly liar. “Look, Radiohead are playing tonight. It’s a secret free gig. It’s the smallest gig they’ll ever do. I have to go.”. “Yeah, sure. Just make sure you fill out a holiday form and handover your projects for this afternoon”. Great success.

11:09
I’m at Stamford Brook tube station. The District Line not only takes 7 years to arrive, but it’s also delayed on countless occasions on the way to Aldgate East. I’m getting edgy. I’m foreseeing a long line of obsessive Radiohead fans. Sad, pathetic little Radiohead fans with nothing better to do then wait in a line all day… Er… well. Apart from me.

12:10
I arrive at Rough Trade East. There’s people there but not as many as I’d imagined. 40/50 people. I’m well in the cut-off for wrist-bands I reckon. A sense of jubilation begins to wash over me, but I don’t want to start feeling too smug about myself just yet. I do feel quite smug though… along with the jubilation. Call my sister to come down to keep me company while we play the waiting game. I meet a couple of people in the queue and we manage to make conversation last for 8 hours. Really helps pass the time while you’re freezing to death in the bitter cold.

19:00
Just after we’re given out Radiohead red-wristbands, the Press and news cameras are all out in full force. The crowd has suddenly swelled into the hundreds and people are getting frustrated and restless. Some just annoyed that they missed the cut. Police arrive on the scene and enter Rough Trade. They don’t look too best pleased. They are wearing their uniforms, and dammit they will exert their authority! The gig seems like it might be put on ice. Much like how my fingers felt. Jubilation and smugness slowly fading. Depression fast seeping in.

19.30
I’ve been tipped-off. Text message: “I don’t know what’s going on at RT but you need to go to 93FE. Now”. I don’t believe it and refuse to leave the line but I trust him. I reluctantly leave the line (making sure my sister and new companions save my spot if it’s a false alarm). I trawl through the crowd of people who’ve converged and make it on to Brick Lane in one piece. I’m outside 93 Feet East. It’s practically empty bar a single van outside who seem to be loading equipment inside in a stealth operation. I ask the security guard and he confirms, they are indeed playing at this venue instead. I feel that jubilation feeling again, with some anxiety. I call my sister and friends to come over and save us some spots right at the front. Soon after, the crowd emerges on to the venue like the stampede in The Lion King. It’s pandemonium for a while as people without the red wristbands try forcing their way in. The guards are having none of it.

22.00
After more waiting (If we English are good at something, it would undoubtedly be queuing) We’re in! Rushing right to the front for a prime position. After that, it’s all a little surreal to be perfectly honest. I’ve seen Radiohead on a few other occasions but usually in the midst of 6,000 sweaty people in a field or large park or arena where a barrier of steel and meathead guards stand between band and audience. So to see them so upclose and personal was bizarre. The band were relaxed and on great form. They played ‘In Rainbows’ from start to the finish with effortless ease. ‘Bodysnatchers’ and ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’ sound raucous and brash while ‘Arpeggi/Weird Fishes’ and ‘Reckoner’ gently add warmth and empathy – highlighted by Ed O’Brian, Colin and Johnny Greenwood forming a circle pact mid-way through songs. However, the true highlights are the more low-key efforts from the album such as ‘Nude’, ‘House of Cards’ (a song I just couldn’t get into before and now can’t get enough of) and ‘Videotape’. Songs which I feel very privileged to have seen, especially when you can see the white of Thom Yorke’s eyes. The encore consisted of vintage Radiohead moments. ‘You and Who’s Army?’, ‘The National Anthem’, ‘My Iron Lung’ and ending on a triumphant ‘The Bends’. It was all over before it really began to be perfectly honest.

00.00
Tube home. I sift through my photographs and it actually did happen. It was honestly one of the, if not the best gig I’ve witnessed. It still hasn’t sunk in yet though.