8 AUGUST 1991
On A Friday play their first gig with the current Radiohead line-up at the Jericho Tavern (later the Philanderer & Firkin, now The Jericho)

Mac (Jericho Tavern bond booker): Ed O’Brien came in to the Jericho to see me. At the time he was a waiter at Brown’s, this incredibly trendy, incredibly expensive restaurant with rather attractive waitresses. He told me if I gave his band a show, he could guarantee he would bring plenty of his colleagues. Well, I’d heard their demo, the one with Stop Whispering on it, with a piece of a Silk Cut advert as a cover. It was good stuff. Typical Kingmaker kind of indie rock. Well, back then people thought The Stone Roses were good!
They were true to their word, loads of waitresses turned up, the place was full of grade-A totty. That ensured another booking. Oh, and the band were pretty good too. Really tight. Great songs. It was obvious they were going to get a deal.

Ronan Munro (local journalist): It was like a Robert Palmer video. That was the first time I reviewed them for Curfew [local fonzine]. They had that sound that was of the time, a bit of a Manchester indie-dance aspect to them and quite REM-ish too, and these country influences which are obligatory now, but at the time were quite bizarre. But it was Thom’s voice that really got me, it was quite at odds with the rest of the band. I remember saying they’d be huge. I got one prediction right anyway. My other was Prolapse.

 

source : http://citizeninsane.eu/s2001-08Q.htm

It was a funny scene, very seperate from the university – bands like Ride, Slowdive, Swervedriver and 5.30 – and centered around the Jericho. A record shop called Manic Hedgehog and a magazine called curfew, which put On A Friday on the cover very early on. There was a pub called The New Inn on the Cowley Road where bands swapped tips and so on.

There’s always someone in a band that takes on quasi-managerial role and for them it was Ed. He sent me a couple of letters – on On A Friday notepaper – saying ‘ I’m in this group, come and see us.’ To be honest, I ignored them.

I was completely and utterly blown away. Out of all those Thames valley bands of the time there were no performers or great singers but Thom was incredible. Brilliant song with the amazing power of three guitars. I made a complete baffoon of myself, bursting backstage saying, I’ve got to work with you! I was so excited by them. They had fantastic energy. I could see it on a world level, even then.”