Radiohead Bring 'King of Limbs' to Glastonbury 'Secret Show'

"We're Radiohead. For the first time this year we're going to play some 'King of Limbs,'" said Thom Yorke as Radiohead made their way on to Glastonbury's Park Stage, thus confirming the worst-kept secret of the festival so far.

The band that performed one of the festival's most well-regarded slots in its history -- the 1997 Pyramid Stage headlining slot that helped catapult them to super-stardom -- Radiohead decided this year that their fourth appearance (fifth counting Yorke and Jonny Greenwood's turn as a duo last year) saw them take to the stage as the shadows lengthened and the Friday-night rain began.

But 'King of Limbs' has met with measured critical acclaim, and the large crowd greeted the opening numbers with a muted response.

"We're all massively nervous about this," Yorke said as the band played '15 Step' off 2007's 'In Rainbows,' after many in the crowd had started chanting, "Louder!" The fans stretched up the hill, but the response was as cool as the weather during 'King of Limbs' tracks such as 'Little by Little.' The newer songs, it would appear, just don't have the effect of their 'OK Computer'-era peaks.

Luckily for Radiohead, the likes of 'All I Need' and 'Weird Fishes/Arpeggi' were clearly more familiar to rain-bedraggled festival-goers.

"It's brightening up tomorrow. So have a good night's sleep and take care of each other," said Yorke in a camp voice.

"We're here to get in free," Yorke added, saying the festival organiser Michal Eavis had said they should play if they wanted free tickets. And -- just as some of the crowd started filing away -- they started into 'Street Spirit,' a ghost from the summer of '97.

Well done them, for giving fans something in exchange for those free tickets.

-- On-site reporting by Rebecca Laurence

Watch Radiohead Play 'There There' at Glastonbury 2003
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