This is Flashback, where we’re reminiscing about some of the most iconic and obscure moments in alt-rock history. This week, we’re looking at when Radiohead “debuted” their iconic album In Rainbows at Bonnaroo.
It was 2006, and as venerated British rock outfit Radiohead’s Thom Yorke recalls, “We did this festival called Bonnaroo. We did 2.5 hours. And there’s 80,000 people, admittedly they’ve been smoking the sticky green all day– probably wouldn’t go anywhere anyway. It was just amazing. We played loads of new stuff. We did whole sections of quiet piano songs and it sounds like the most grotesque, self-indulgent nonsense, but it probably is my favourite gig for years and years and years. It was a really mellow evening.”
Read more: 15 artists who completely reinvented their sound from album to album
He wasn’t the only one who would remember it as one of their favorite performances. This set wasn’t like most other festival sets. Rather than promoting an album cycle, the group went on stage with other intentions: that hot evening in Tennessee, an unsuspecting audience was part of a larger experiment—Radiohead regaled them by testing out new material. And six of the songs they played that night would go on 2007’s critically acclaimed seventh studio album In Rainbows, which they independently released, and has also been fiercely argued to be one of the band’s best albums.
That being said, this weekend as crowds pour over Manchester, TN for another year of Bonnaroo—which boasts a diverse lineup featuring the likes of Foo Fighters, Paramore, Pixies, Kendrick Lamar, Korn and Jenny Lewis—we should all keep in mind that there’s no telling what type of music history might take place.
