1994-08-27, Reading Festival, Reading, UK

## Tracklist

1. Sing a Song for You (Tim Buckley cover)
2. Bones
3. You
4. Ripcord
5. Creep
6. My Iron Lung
7. Prove Yourself
8. The Bends
9. Inside My Head
10. Maquiladora
11. Just
12. Pop Is Dead
13. Anyone Can Play Guitar

## Comments

* This is a classic Radiohead show, and for good reason. The band's first appearance at the famous Reading Festival - in front of probably their biggest crowd up to this point, a writhing, moshing monster of a thing - this performance was professionally filmed and exists in pretty strong quality all across the internet. For the completists, an audience recording is also floating around, but there's no reason why you wouldn't stick to the perfectly serviceable soundboard that exists.
* This band was just on *fire* in 1994! There's a reason this has the strong reputation that it does - it's a total delight to watch, and really can't be recommended enough. This is truly the band at the height of its rocking, destructive powers, with perhaps the single heaviest setlist they've ever played and some truly dominant renditions. In fact, it's probably more worth asking what performances *aren't* awesome here.
* This isn't a compliment afforded to many shows - especially from this era - but the *start* of this show is simply one of the best in recorded Radiohead history. On a backing of pindrop silence, Thom sings a *gorgeous* a capella version of Tim Buckley's Sing a Song for You. He lets each note ring out, hinting that something big is about to happen. Finally, he sings the last line. Cue the opening guitar of Bones. ***Absolutely incredible.*** And if that wasn't good enough, this is the second brilliant Bones in just as many shows; it's punchy, triumphant and has plenty of guitar-laced bite.
* The other famous part of this show is Anyone Can Play Guitar. This performance has become memed into oblivion over the years, and for good reason - Thom and Jonny are just ridiculous here. The moment the outro begins, the band go to town on punishing their guitars; Thom just drops his on the ground in a genuinely funny moment, and Jonny even goes so far as to half-heartedly attempt to break the neck. The fact that he doesn't go through with it shows that their heart really wasn't in that performance style. This is the last time you'll ever see the band this absurdly rockstar-ish!
* My Iron Lung and (surprisingly) Prove Yourself are also brilliant highlights here, the former in particular featuring blistering playing in the breakdowns. This song, like Bones, seems to only improve with each passing show.
* And to add to all of that, Inside My Head makes its triumphant return to the setlist here, and the rendition genuinely rivals the Metro as the song's best performance. The sheer *speed* of this thing is absolutely stunning, and the guitar work has become a whole new world of sophisticated since the last recorded outing.
* It's not an overstatement when one says that the crowd here is manic - they're probably the most animated of any filmed Radiohead show to date, jumping and moshing wildly. It reaches its absolute peak during Creep and Anyone Can Play Guitar.
* Notice that Jonny's little guitar ostinato has been dropped from the second 'lying in the bar' section of The Bends. Any sadness resulting from this omission is countered by the absurd and surprisingly brilliant impromptu change to Thom's vocal melody.
* Fun little moment that makes me laugh: Jonny strutting across the stage in time with the downbeats of The Bends.