can you keep a secret?

Fans queue to see Radiohead

Is the secret gig coming back into fashion? In the last two days Radiohead and Babyshambles have played free shows, both announced at the very last minute.
Thom Yorke and co, first playing at record shop Rough Trade East, then switching to nearby club 93 Feet East when shut down by police, gained rapturous reviews and gushing testimonies from fans. The Bayshambles effort, in a pub in Wiltshire, was reported in the same ho-hum manner the British press now treat all aspects of Pete Doherty’s life, where a court case carries the same weight as a snap of him buying baked beans.
But for Doherty, this type of gig was nothing new. From their early days to their eventual spilt in 2004, The Libertines would regularly put on gigs in their north London flat. By 2005, the secret gig and the guerrilla gig had ceased to be a rarity and were almost mandatory for small-to-medium sized bands. When mobile phone networks began to sponsor them (“TEXT your name to xxxx for an EXCLUSIVE chance to see…”) the whole concept lost any remaining shred of cool and started to die off.
Almost. Bands lumped in with the nu-rave scene (accurately or not), such as Foals and Late Of The Pier, had built their fan base by playing house parties, but at least the off-radar gig felt underground again. Now a band with the stature of Radiohead are taking it back to the grapevine and Doherty back on the case, the secret gig has emerged from the shadows once more and a new wave of ‘secret corporate sponsorship’ seems imminent.