The Smile at Brighton Centre - Review

But a largely full Brighton Centre seemed fairly hyped regardless, and welcomed the band with more noise than you'd usually hear on a Monday evening in BN1.Borne of lockdown boredom, the Radiohead side project and three-piece (joined by Rob Stillman for the live performances) looked like they were enjoying playing together and creating music.Ahead of the tour in a rare interview about the project, Thom Yorke told 6Music they had the challenge of figuring out how to recreate The Smile's complex songs with just four musicians.

He said it would involve a lot of counting and promised it wasn't Prog. At times some of the band's more imposing songs weren't far off being that, but their hugely inventive and eclectic sound dabbles in many musical genres, with contrary key changes and time sequences.

Drummer Tom Skinner doesn't propel the sound in the way of more traditional rock pop stick-wielders, and instead is a looser, roaming presence.

A remarkable number of electric and bass guitars made their way on and off the stage.

Classically-trained Jonny Greenwood's guitar was at different turns abrasive and beautifully melodious, coaxing some original, tortured sounds from his Gibson Les Paul (an electric guitar created in the 50s) and Yorke seemed to revel in the occasional role of bass-guitar brute, hammering out some less than subtle sounds and hurtling things along.

The set was, unsurprisingly, dominated by tracks from the second album, but the presence of new material suggested the third album isn't too far away.

Highlights of the set included the stately synths, robo-vocals and languid groove of Teleharmonic, the waltzy/upbeat key changes of Friend of a Friend (A Day in the Life for the cash-strapped Insta generation), and the glorious Read the Room, which moves from choppy insistent riffs to a rather gorgeous spacey chug and back again.

The night ended with the gentle, and relatively simple piano ballad, You Know Me!, "Don't think you know me" Yorke repeated, and musically all but the most zealous of Radiohead and The Smile fans would happily agree.