Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood recently recalled performing at Glastonbury Festival in the late 90s.
Colin Greenwood opens up on the show
Speaking to The Big Issue for his Letter to My Younger Self, Colin Greenwood looked back on Radiohead’s performance at the Glastonbury Festival in 1997.
He said: “I remember the Glastonbury [Pyramid Stage headline] show in 1997. I was in tears after it. It was so traumatic. Everything sort of broke down – the monitors and the lights went. Thom walked offstage and Ed had to get him back. The BBC recorded it brilliantly, and I listened to it a few years ago. And I just thought, god, we were all so shit scared. We were all concentrating so hard. But f***ing hell, it sounds amazing.”
The band headlined Worthy Farm’s Pyramid stage in both 1997 and 2003. Their famed 1997 performance was marred with mistakes with the band suffering from technical problems. It was one of the lackluster years on record, but Thom Yorke led the band through a 20-song set that showcased their new album, OK Computer, released earlier that month.
Yorke had previously admitted that he nearly cut short Radiohead’s iconic 1997 headline Glastonbury performance.
Speaking to the BBC in 2017, the frontman revealed: “At one point I just went over to Ed [O’Brien, guitarist]. I tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘I’m off mate, see you later.’
“He turned around and went, ‘If you do, you’ll probably live the rest of your life regretting it.’
“I went, ‘Good point.'”
However, the show went on.
Radiohead at Glastonbury setlist, 28 June 1997
Lucky
My Iron Lung
Airbag
Planet Telex
Exit Music (For A Film)
The Bends
Nice Dream
Paranoid Android
Karma Police
Creep
Climbing Up The Walls
No Surprises
Talk Show Host
Bones
Just
Fake Plastic Trees
Encore:
You
The Tourist
High And Dry
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
