Missing the Radiohead

FOMO is for suckers, and most of the time you're not missing anything really - that party you didn't get invited to wasn't that much, the sphere of gossip you were excluded out of wasn't saying anything you really needed to do. But it's nearly three decades later, and I still deeply regret not going with my mates to go see Radiohead play at Warners in central Christchurch in 1994. 

Pre-Bends Radiohead never did anything for me, I really only got onboard the Radiohead train with the stunning brilliance of OK Computer, like all the other basic bitches in the world. Now I'm the sort of sad old bastard who gets embarrassed by how often the YouTube algorithm keeps offering up Man Of War, and how often I accept it.

So when all my other 19-year-old mates were off to see this Radiohead crew at a dodgy bar in the centre of Christchurch 200 kilometres away, I bade them a fond farewell and had an early night. It was a Monday, I had to fuckin' work in the morning. 

They had an excellent time and told me all about it over the following days and weeks and months and years and I've only grown more and more jealous.

Everyone likes to say they saw the biggest bands of the day before they really got huge, when they were still playing pubs and bars, but I really only had one shot at that, and I spent it in bed, getting ready for another Tuesday at the fat factory.

I saw a few other shows at Warner's in the later years, none of them was Radiohead. One of them was a very early performance by The Feelers, who were mates of a mate, and went on to be very popular around here, so at least I can lay a claim to fame of being the first Feelers hater.

But Warner's was taken down after the 2011 quake, and the people who were at that Radiohead gig will remember it for ever. I fucking won't.