Here is that damn Paris Le Zenith review...finally... I was supposed to go this concert with Dani who couldn't make it at the last
minute ;-), and i wish he did cos he would have written a more interesting and longer review than me ;-). i think Dani tends to
dissect RH shows and songs, i tend to worship them and froth like an animal...i think.

Anyway, i was supposed to be going to this concert with my friend, and we had organised it months before, but then the
bastard had no money and couldn't come. In a massive scramble to sell off my ticket i offered it to lots of people, but again the
problem was money . You see, i was coming all the way from manchester, england, on a package trip to Paris for 3 days plus
hotel and tickets. Eventually my sister agreed to come to buy clothes for her shop back in England. she didn't want to go to the
concert though . so , i send a post on the List, offering a ticket to paris. eventually dani agrees to meet me and we can go to the
concert together and sink a few pints beforehand.

So, at 4:30pm, i'm stood outside the Zenith on my own , exspecting only about 10 people to be queuing up. i was wrong...there
are over 100people in the line!!! i just stood there in shock at the line and though "how the FUCK am i going to find Dani!!!??".
So i spend the next hour asking every guy in a black leather jacket, black shoes, blue jeans and black rucksack "Are you
Dani". mostly the replies are "Eh?" or "Quoi?!" or "Non!". it's amazing how many people matched Dani's description....are
black leather jackets popular in paris or something!?

Anyway, at about 6:pm i meet this french guy who is also on his own and has lost his friend who writes a french fanzine on the
'Head. He's very cool but a bit of a chain smoker...i'm surprised i haven't got lung cancer after meeting him. At least I've got
someone to talk with now and tell each other of our endless love of Radiohead. It's also a desperate power battle too and we
try to show off our knowledge by asking each other if we know obscure songs....my best attempts are "Nothing Touches Me"
and "What's That You Say".

I'm sad...i know.

The sky is turning dark though....and the gates open....people file in...i keep thinking , WHERE is Dani!? Did he crash on the
way? Did he get the wrong train? Is he here but i can't find him? So i wait through half of Sparklehorse's set, and give up..and
go in to the venue with Francoise, the french guy.

Sparklehorse bore the hell out of me. In fact, all support acts have always bored me. Out of the 20 or so concerts i've been to,
not a single one has ever interested me. I think the most ridiculous one was the Divine Comedy supporting Radiohead at the
manchester apollo last year. i guess support bands are good for increasing anticipation...

"Fitter...happier............................................................. .........no paranoia ......fond but not in
love...........antibiotics........".....AIRBAG!!!!

I was stood in the famous "Dani Equidistant Position" between Thom and Jonny, half by choice, half by force. This song is so
fantastic, and sets the mood for a little dancing and huge crushing waves in the crowd. The best description i could make for the
song would be '''''''Liquid Guitars''''''''. This song is so crisp and clean, and thom sounds as if he's almost crying "iiiiii am born
agaaaain".....This is played exactly the same as the four other shows i've seen (Los Angeles, Manchester twice, Blackpool).
Scarily good....

Predictably KARMA POLICE is next, and sounds a little dampened, but is still very good. It's sort of a really sleazy drawl ,
you see what i mean? it's as if thom is singing in a seedy stripclub!! I have no idea why my head works like this though!!

I don't usually care to remember the setlist, as i prefer to be in anticpation of the next songs, but nevertheless i begin my
incessant screaming for The Trickster. I think i got a brief look and smile from Thom, and i give him the thumbs up, but i'm
disappointed cos they never play it through the whole show.

THE BENDS is excellent. For some reason that gorgeous guitar squealing by Jonny's guitar when Thom says "...waiting for
something to happen" is absent, and this pisses me off, cos i love it. The best part is the manic part where the trio are
hammering at their guitars for the last chorus and the band is bathed in a hellish red light. it's as if they've just unearthed hell and
brought it to Paris.

TALK SHOW HOST needless to say is perfect, Ed's wah wah and phil's drumming making me dance ...... this song is too
good to be a b-side. if there ever was a midway album between the Bends and OK Computer, i'd put this song on it. sort of
like the best of both worlds.

MY IRON LUNG - one of my fave songs. most people only see it as 'adequate', but i love it, and especially the big riot of
moshing at the choruses is good as the crowd were not so passionate or loud before this.

NICE DREAM - i don't really like this. i think it's a bit boring and certainly not suitable for a a live song. GO on....HANG me!

CREEP > obligatory arms crossed by Thom. Jonny ripping his guitar. Ed being a rock star. Phil tapping away. And
Colin....well Colin....er.....hiding in Phil's bosom....like a scared little rabbit. this is one of my least favourite radiohead songs.
Not cos i want to sound cool like the 'snobbish' radiohead fans or anything, but i truly just find it a quite boring song. it gets the
crowd very excited though.

I leave the moshpit which is excellent>> Not violent, and hardly any crowdsurfing, but the crowd are going completely crazy
and being careful not to hurt one another.

I move to the back of the venue, sitting down (the Zenith is an excellent venue i've got to say....you've got a choice of sitting or
standing and the sound is excellent.)

I hear a Radiohead song live sitting down ....for the first time in my whole life...NO SURPRISES. This is so beautiful, and when
the blue lights come on around the stage it's so uplifting...i agree with Dani...it's a very uplifting song.

CUTW is as amazing as always. I wish radiohead would do a song really badly though just to be less predictable!! A nice
touch at the end is when the whole song is finished, and the crowd is quiet,and the only sound is of Jonny tuning the radio, and
we can hear a few seconds of a french news broadcast...it's great, and a very scary song. Perfectly claustrophobic. i make my
way back to the moshpit.

BONES i love this cos we get to see Thom's wild movements, which have become less and less over the years...he used to be
able to do what he wanted with the microphone and be free from a guitar for lots of songs, like Vegetable, Punchdrunk
Lovesick Singalong, Creep, Bones and Black Star, but now he's only free for Bones and Creep. I love his spastic movements.

FPT - amazingly, i've never been a fan of this song, so it doesn't do much for me, but it's played as well as it always was.

LUCKY i love this though, and it's just so .... narcotic. I feel like i'm in this really nice haze when i listen to it.

JUST sends the crowd wild after the last two slow songs.

PARANOID ANDROID - EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Probably my highlight. This is just so perfect.

end of first set...

ENCORE i) This is dedicated from Thom to Mrs Greenwood (Jonny's french mum(is she french?) was at this concert)...LET
DOWN!!!! i was soooo pleased to hear it, and i think it's better than the album version because i think Thom's acoustic guitar
sounds gorgeous, but it's ruined slightly by the second or third choruses when there's only the one voice instead of two. I asked
THom why Ed doesnt sing on this song, and he said it's because Ed can't hold his notes..but i thought he sounded fine on
Blowout and Para Android, etc.

PLANET TELEX has one of the best lighting of the concert...it's soooo fast and pounding, and leaves everyone a bit dazed cos
it's so good.

SUBTERRANEAN - i love this, but find it boring live. i just think it's a stupid choice. Sorry, i'm a stupid kinda guy.

STREET SPIRIT ...AMAAAAAZING!!!! i think i see some people cry....maybe.

Encore ii) not on setlist, but HIGH AND DRY is played. I don't really like this song either, but it's still good. i can't say anything
else about it.

needless to say, this show was absolutely fantastic, and i had a fantastic weekend in paris, never to be forgotten, and i' even got
a very good photo of Thom. the band were in very good mood, especially Thom, who smiled a lot and was just generally
happy. He was also quite late into the tour bus as he was at the after show party for so long!

After the concert i waited 2 hours for the band, and i kissed the singer of Texas and she gave me a backstage pass but the evil
french security guards barred me cos they recognised me from trying to get in before with my old backstage pass which i stole
at the Blackpool....but then FINALLY i met the band one by one except the very drunk Colin. Thom was very nice. i've heard
people say he's moody , but i've met him twice and i thought he was very friendly and just a gorgeous guy. Phil is also very
friendly and even remembered me!. Ed is i think sarcastic but very polite, but he gave me an evil look when i called him
'Edward'. Colin was too pissed to talk and staggered onto the tourbus. Jonny was very friendly too....i was surprised. I've met
the band once before, apart from Colin, and it's so weird to see that these people aren't gods like i thought...Hey! these guys
are really human beings! .

the best roadie in the world also slipped me a setlist, and i could have kissed him for that, and that made my night even
better....but there was more to come...i got a bottle of empty RADIOHEAD personalised champagne!!!!

i met some more cool french people along with Francois, and we all swapped addresses and went home in ecstacy. i also
bought the best tight t-shirt in the word, and it said "SPORT FAILURE" on the front and all the rest of your usual radiohead
shit around it, like that dudey little 'r' sign from the Pablo Honey era.

If you are given an ultimatum to see two concerts in your whole life...see Radiohead...TWICE.

Oh yeah, if you're wondering what happened to Dani...he got the wrong train..hehe

;-p! Ah well, at least i managed to sell my spare ticket to a tout.

i saw Radiohead in Manchester last week.....and that review will come later. Sorry for the boring review, but that's all you're
getting. Be grateful!

one last thing, the night would have been perfect if that champagne bottle was full rather than empty ;-)

JOUBIN