Radiohead Debuts New Songs At San Sebastian, Spain Show

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain (Radiohead Fans Website) - "We're gonna play some new songs, some old songs, and then we'll go for pizza," said Radiohead's Thom Yorke, to a primed crowd of 1,800 as the band took the stage for the first of three sold-out San Sebastian, Spain, shows on Tuesday (July 30).

Typically utilized for city congress meetings, business conventions, and the occasional classical concerto, the newly renovated Auditorio Kursaal proves a perfect testing laboratory for the seven-song block of new material that open the show, as well as the 19 numbers that follow.

Intro track, "There There," offers a band member role reversal, with drummer Phil Selway taking vocal duties with Yorke, while Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien provide the drumming. Colin Greenwood, as usual, amply lays down the bottom end. "Scatterbrain," "Keep the Wolf from the Door," "We Suck Your Blood," and "Myxomatosis" -- a grubby, potent rap that features Yorke hammering a keyboard guitar last seen in a Thompson Twins video -- confirm rumors of the band's reunion with the instinctive guitar-heavy rock format, while retaining the urgent, electronic experimentation of Kid A and Amnesiac.

Radiohead perfectly sums up this inventive language in the final new song of the evening, "Sit Down Stand Up," which features Jonny Greenwood plugging random cords into an archaic-looking amplified switchboard atop searing lead guitar work by O'Brien.

The second portion of the show kicks off with "I Might Be Wrong," and in no time the band hits its stride, delivering stellar readings of "Airbag," "Dollars and Cents," and "The National Anthem." The set peaks with a glove-tight version of "Idioteque," and closes, fittingly, with "Everything in Its Right Place," the song trailing off as the band members, one by one, modestly exit the stage.

Few things come close to seeing arguably the best band in the world at the top of its game. This night out, Radiohead delivered the goods, crafting a 26-song aria, befitting of a city that effortlessly breathes beauty and creativity. It will be a while before something this good hits these shores again.