School was back in session on Friday (6/23) at the University of California at Berkeley. Only, this time, it wasn't the students who were put through a test--it was a batch of new music.

Radiohead [ tickets ], arguably the biggest name in alt-rock, came to the school's lovely Greek Theatre to road-test some new songs. Berkeley wasn't the only place where the test was held. The band has been trying out these songs all along its current North American tour, which consists of two-night stands at comparatively intimate venues in nine cities, as well as an appearance at the massive Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee.

The end result of this, it's safe to assume, is that the best new songs will find their way onto Radiohead's next album. There is no official release date for the forthcoming disc, which will be the band's first since 2003's "Hail to the Thief," but most expect it to hit stores in 2007.

In Berkeley, the fans certainly gave high marks to all nine of the new tracks performed during the 23-song set. But, then again, these fans weren't the most unbiased of judges. These were rabid Radiohead fanatics, ones that reportedly had snatched up all of the roughly 16,000 tickets to the two shows in less than an hour.

Radiohead opened its show with a refresher course, reminding fans why they were there in the first place with powerful renditions of "You and Whose Army?" (2001's "Amnesiac") and "National Anthem" (2000's "Kid A"). The band, which consists of vocalist Thom Yorke, guitarists Ed O'Brien and Jonny Greenwood, bassist Colin Greenwood and drummer Phil Selway, then delivered the first new song, a dizzying, drama-rich tune called "15 Step."

From that point, the British quintet continued to mix old and new, moving from a sensational pairing of "Morning Bell" ("Amnesiac") and "Exit Music (For a Film)" (1997's "OK Computer") to the worthy new songs "Arpeggi" and "Videotape."

Given time constraints and the emphasis on the new material, Radiohead didn't play as many old songs as many fans would have liked. That said, however, the fans certainly liked what they heard--which was a pretty balanced look at the band's past and future. The group drew five tracks from "Amnesiac," a dreamy, meditative and electronic-infused work that shares much in common with the new material. Each of the band's other studio CDs--with the exception of 1993's debut "Pablo Honey," which was neglected entirely--was touched upon two or three times. It's also interesting to note that the band did not include any numbers from Yorke's solo debut, "The Eraser," which will be released on July 11. That could mean that Yorke might be back--on his own--for another round of North American dates in the fall.

In Berkeley, Yorke sounded great in his usual, peculiar way, rising up out of frailness and paranoia to sail above a symphony of jagged guitar, computerized bleeps and frenzied percussion on tracks such as "Down is the New Up," "Pyramid Song" and "Like Spinning Plates."

The music, which grew more intense with each selection, peaked on the swirling main-set closer, "Idioteque," a "Kid A" track that left fans chanting for more.

They got it with two encores, consisting of a total of six songs. By this point, the band was basically finished testing out new material and focused the encores on older tunes. Still, Radiohead couldn't help but play one more new track, the stirring, nightmarish "4 Minute Warning." I guess they were shooting for extra credit.

Setlist:
You and Whose Army?
National Anthem
15 Step
Morning Bell
Exit Music (For a Film)
Arpeggi
Videotape
I Might Be Wrong
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Nude
Down is the New Up
Pyramid Song
Like Spinning Plates
Bangers 'n' Mash
There There
Spooks
Idioteque

Encore:
Wolf at the Door
4 Minute Warning
Bones
Lucky

Encore 2:
House of Cards
Everything in Its Right Place