A curt "how are you?" from Yorke was his only welcome, though "Karma Police" needed no introduction, even with the frontman on guitar and Greenwood's beanpole frame hunched over an upright piano. The audience were soon in full voice. It was an instant reminder that despite all the sonic trickery Radiohead were first and foremost songwriters of distinction.
Yorke's muscled banter between songs was lost to us up in the gods, but it was clear he was a proficient busker, hitting a taut rhythm on "There, There" to which his partner added a crunchy accompaniment on his electric guitar.
Then Yorke finger picked precisely first newie "Arpeggi". As well as carrying a beautiful melody, he sang his most plaintive tune since "OK Computer". It was a straightforward arrangement, but no less beguiling for that. Another new tune had Yorke sample his voice to devise a rhythm, Laurie Anderson style. Like its peers it was propelled by a direct beat with an insistent tune on top. On the more proggy "Fake Plastic Trees" the pair met the crescendo to its emphatic chorus before the wearied finale. Greenwood even betrayed a sense of humour by peppering the number with seagull cries to add his own brand of subversion. Yorke, meanwhile, half-read green messages from small notes before chucking them away for the simple slogan, "It's not too late".
I'm posting this because I guess the singaporean music scene has disappointed me vaguely with their inability to offer acoustic - and while I would be one of the first to claim that radiohead are unmatchable, surely we could try?
