Phew! For a minute there, I lost myself.

One of the first CD albums I ever bought was ‘The Bends’ by Radiohead. To this day it remains one of the centrepieces of my since expanded CD collection. Despite my admiration for the band however, I had never actually seen them play live – until last Friday night. Various accounts had suggested that their recent performances had been disappointing, and they tended to over concentrate on the less popular 'post OK Computer' material. Whilst their latest offering, In Rainbows, certainly marks a return to more traditional Radiohead territory following the electro-rock experimentations of Kid A, Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief, it still does not quite reach the heights of The Bends or OK Computer. That said, there are some corking tracks, my favourites being Jigsaw Falling into Place, Reckoner and Nude.

Playing to a crowd of around 30,000 in Glasgow Green in the evening drizzle, the Oxford quintet opened to 15 Steps, the opener to In Rainbows followed by Airbag. After what I thought was a slightly dodgy start – Thom York appearing to struggle with his microphone – they were quickly into their stride. The first half of the set did tend to concentrate on newer material, although the best of the past three albums were played, including There There, Everything in its Right Place and Jonny Greenwood's electrical storm of a crowdpleaser Idioteque, accompanied by an impressive light show.

The second part of the set focused on the older classic material, including Fake Plastic Trees, No Surprises and of course the sublime Paranoid Android which was played to perfection. The band reserved Karma Police until the encore, and with the crowd finishing the last verse, I thought this would be the last piece. But York, clearly enjoying himself, came out for a second Encore, performing a delightful acoustic version of 'Videotape' from In Rainbows. Despite a 2 hour set including 2 encores, the sodden audience did not fade and were left wanting more. This was certainly one of the best gigs I have been to for a long while, and ranks with U2 1995, Ash 1997 and The Prodigy 2005 in my top 5. It was a privilege to have witnessed one of the finest bands of my generation at their majestic best.