[climbingupthewalls] Trainspotter's Guide
  .contents

If you are looking for a certain scene, the film has been organised by the place in which it took place.


Times are set from when the Parlophone logo appears on the screen. (ie that point is 0:00:00).


Dangera .exit

  .outer space

[0:00:01]
The first shot is of the MIR space station (recently deceased). I think this might have been the incident where the Progress vehicle (which carries supplies etc) missed its target and caused damage to the solar panels and other parts of the station.
 
.barcelona

[0:00:14]
A cable car ride in Bacelona (possibly at the airport), where OK Computer was launched.

[0:04:02]
The review that scrolls in the background is a review by the NME of OK Computer, while a version of Paranoid Android plays in the background.

[0:04:39]
As the band prepares to go onstage Thom says "Lucky is actually wildly appropriate - 'we are standing on the edge'". Colin and Ed (I think) reply; "Lets do 'Lucky' then". You can also see Jonny putting on his infamous arm brace in this scene.

[0:05:55]
The band open their concert in Barcelona with 'Lucky'. Thom says towards the end (of OK Computer) "Personally I had the sound in my head, the sound of big glass shopping malls. Lots of glass and chrome and white and stuff."
.glastonbury

[0:10:04]
Thom asks Andi Watson (the man referred to in the OK Computer notes as being responsible for "lighting, stage design, smoke and production") to turn the lights onto the crowd. This part is referred to by Thom later in the film, when he is in Japan.
.philidelphia

[0:10:27]
From Rolling Stone: "Yorke's voice is till in unbelievable shape, even after four weeks on the road, and the crowd is spellbound by tense version of 'Exit Music' and 'Karma Police', as well as a gripping 'Paranoid Android'. It's a little odd, however, when 'Creep' is played and Yorke who has preened and posed his way through the song, lets the crowd sing the second verse. The song isn't a favourite of Jonny's and when the time comes for his guttural belch of a guitar part, he rips into it with added vengeance. Yorke introduces the number - as he does most of the time - by saying 'We play this because it's still a good song,' an unneccessary apology for their biggest hit."

[0:13:55]
Thom and Jonny are interviewed by Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly, you can read the resulting article here. The song that is playing in the background is the Zero7 remix of 'Climbing up the Walls'.
.new york

[0:15:50]
Thom plays the first of the new songs that features on MPIE - 'How to Disappear'. This song is on Kid A.

[0:16:51]
The band play Karma Police on the David Letterman show. This performance is available on Napster.

[0:19:07]
The music that plays while Thom is on his way to the nightclub is 'Meeting in the Aisle' which is a B-side which features sampling and programming by Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker (who make up Zero7) and is available on the 'How Am I Driving?' EP.

[0:21:10]
When Thom gets rejected at the nightclub, he says "That's the night for me then".

[0:21:43]
The song that plays when we see the shots of Thom in his hotel room is 'On Your Own Again' by Scott Walker (from the Scott Walker IV album).

During this scene you can also see a sticker Thom has put on the window which reads 'I am not here and this is not really happening'. These are the lyrics to the chorus of 'How to Disappear'. This phrase was apparently offered to Thom by Michael Stipe (lead singer of REM) as words of encouragement.
.london

[0:24:32]
The reason why Thom screams during the performance of Airbag is that he is, according to Frouse - "It's just a cool thing to do".

[0:25:10]
Michael Stipe makes and appearance; when Thom & Michael Stipe are confronted by the security guard ("Gents, gents! Where are we goin'? What passes 'ave you got?") as they are about to go up the stairs, Michael responds with "He's the singer in the band." You also see Nigel Godrich (Radiohead's producer) too, he shows his pass to the security man as the camera pans down to the right.
.paris

[0:25:50]
The song played at the soundcheck here is 'A Reminder'. It can also be found on the 'How Am I Driving?' EP.

[0:26:37]
Ed is interviewed in the carpark and the interviewer says - "You can get a Gibson '97 guitar if you want." Ed - "Yeah, well, I don't want to though".

They also discuss Sparklehorse - a band who have supported Radiohead an number of dates, as recently as 1997. Thom also collaborated with Sparklehorse for a cover of Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here'.

The man standing on the extreme left of shot with the thickly rimmed glasses is Tim Greaves (we think so at least). He is the Radiohead tour manager and shows up in a number of other places in the film too, in the previous scene for example when Colin is interviewed in French and Thom and Tim are making hand gestures at each other.
.berlin

[0:38:31]
The second new song on MPIE is played at the Berlin soundcheck. It is 'Life in a Glass House' and is the last track on Amnesiac.

[0:41:15]
The band catch a Lear Jet to London for the Q Magazine Music Awards where they win 'Best Album'.

[0:42:44]
In the car, the man on the left (not Colin, the other bloke) says over the phone: "Well we knew we'd won. Oh yeah, we wouldn't have gone otherwise."
.stockholm

[0:43:25]
This part shows the band playing Paranoid Android and features 4 'hidden frames'. Click on the links to view them. Again thanks to Dino for the screen captures.
[One] [Two] [Three] [Four]

[0:44:05]
The second remix of 'Climbing up the Walls' is played here. This is the Fila Brazillia mix.
.skytv news

[0:44:36]
They show the video for 'No Surprises', which was also directed by Grant Gee. Coincidentally; the fellow on the left says it might be a re-creation of Houdini's last stunt. One day, in his dressing-room, a student wanted to test Houdini's strength by punching him in the stomach. He hit before Houdini was ready and Houdini collapsed. He died 2 days later in hospital.
.mtv 10spot

[0:49:50]
The MTV staff are getting annoyed at the lighting levels on Radiohead's performance (they are too low) and the lady there wants to know why nothing has been done about it. During this sequence, if you watch Colin on the monitors you can see the resemblence between Colin and Noel Gallagher of Oasis.
.london

[0:53:08]
The video for 'Palo Alto' is played. This is a fully fledged video and was directed by Grant Gee. The video was delivered to the likes of MTV, but is rarely played as 'Palo Alto' was not released as a single or radio promo. You can get 'Palo Alto' on the 'How Am I Driving?' EP.
.tokyo

[1:01:10]
The band plays 'Pearly*'. This is another popular B-side, and is also available on the 'How Am I Driving?' EP. If you are wondering where Ed is during this performance, he playing drums along with Phil.

[1:05:16]
Jonny says this to an interviewer. It is quite hard to hear. "We are coming across bands now that own hotels and it does put you off, and have investment companies and small businesses. There was a documentary done recently about Pink Floyd and when it was shown to Pink Floyd, they refused to have it released, because it basically showed them going in and out of business meetings and board room and discussing moving money around. It's not really the idea."
.nagoya

[1:06:50]
Three clips are shown from the point of view of Thom's microphone. 'Climbing up the Walls', 'Paranoid Android' and 'Planet Telex'. At the end of each, it shows about 5-6 frames of Thom in front of his microphone. In front of Thom you can see someone who has made it across the barriers. We are not sure what he or Thom is doing.
.fukuoka

[1:07:51]
The band play 'Follow Me Around' at the soundcheck. This song is unreleased at this stage. I has only been performed once live in concert - Toronto, October 2000. The Toronto performance is widely available on Napster.
.tokyo

[1:13:40]
Thom plays a song called 'I Will' which sounds a lot like the 'raindown' part of 'Paranoid Android'. This song has become the backing track of 'Like Spinning Plates' which features on Amnesiac.
.sydney

[1:18:08]
Thom is shown being interviewed by Richard Kingsmill of the Triple J network. The subsequent interview is hosted on this website and can be downloaded from this site - Lucky. (Three-quarters of the way down, under Interviews with Radiohead - OK Computer).
.london

[1:20:01]
The band are in the studio (with Nigel Godrich, who can be seen often in this part) attempting to record 'Man-O-War' (aka Big Boots). The song was to be used on 'The Avengers' soundtrack, but the band were not happy with the results of the recording session and the song was not used. You can see clips of the film playing on TV screens in the background while the band work.

The lyrics of this song are printed on the back of the of the video case. It has been performed a few times in concert and Nigel has said that it is his favourite Radiohead song, although it has never been released.

The studios in which the band are playing could well be Abbey Road or possibly RAK Studios. Both were used in the recording of 'The Bends'.
.new york

[1:24:12]
The band have an arguement backstage at their gig at Radio City Music Hall. What exactly it is about is a matter for debate. Thom does not want to go out on stage but the others are urging him on. So far, we have come up with only two reason why Thom would not want to go back out on stage. Either it is because the crowd have been asking him to play 'Creep', (Ed says audibly "but you did it!") or Thom does not want to play 'Big Ideas'.

[1:25:38]
The band play the last of the new songs - 'Big Ideas'. I has also been called 'Nude' and 'Neut'. As the band rehearse the song you can see Thom is unhappy with it in its current format ("We've got to find another note") which could be one reason why he was not keen to play it live. This song has not yet been released on any albums. It was however played live several time on the American tour of 1998 and bootlegs of these are available on Napster.
"I think that's the end" - Thom