Thom Yorke performing at Radiohead’s tour kickoff in Madrid, their first show in seven years.
Alex Lake
Just three months ago, the mere thought of a Radiohead concert in 2025 — or really, any future year for that matter — seemed impossible. Since the band wrapped their A Moon Shaped Pool tour in August 2018, they’ve been busy with various side projects. And we mean very busy: frontman Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood have released three albums as the Smile; Greenwood has scored several films, including the recent Paul Thomas Anderson epic One Battle After Another; Yorke released an LP with producer Mark Pritchard; drummer Phil Selway and guitarist Ed O’Brien both dropped solo albums; and bassist Colin Greenwood released a stunning Radiohead photo book. So, yeah, it’s been a long seven years since we’ve seen these five lads together onstage. Would it ever happen again?
When Yorke heard rumors of a band reunion last year, he shut them down quickly. “I am not aware of it and don’t really give a flying fuck,” he said. “No offense to anyone and thanks for caring.”
We care quite a bit. And that’s why it felt like a goddamn miracle when the lights dimmed at Madrid’s Movistar Arena for the kickoff to Radiohead’s 2025 European tour, and they took the stage after the longest break of their career. It was worth the wait.
They opened with the “Let Down,” marking the second time they’ve kicked off a set with the OK Computer stunner since Manchester in 2017 (it recently entered the Hot 100 a cool 28 years after its release thanks to TikTok, because the kids are just like us — hysterical and useless).
It immediately felt like the band was ushering in a new era, for several reasons. They were joined by drummer and percussionist Chris Vatalaro — a Selway collaborator who’s played with Imogen Heap, Anohni and the Johnsons, Jarvis Cocker, and more — who has seemingly taken over for Portishead’s Clive Deamer, their previous live drummer. But most notably, tonight was the first time Radiohead performed in the round. For the first few songs, they were concealed by a semi-translucent video curtain, which began to partially lift during a steadfast “Bloom,” off The King of Limbs.
The video screen split into panels that lifted up and down throughout the show, always obscuring a large part of the stage. At times, this made it difficult to see the band, but Yorke made sure to consistently shift positions so everyone in the arena could get a glimpse of him. And when we say “shift,” we actually mean “dance,” in the lovable Yorkian way we all know and love. It was joyous to see those moves again after so many years, whether it was while clutching his keyboard synth during “Ful Stop” or during “The Gloaming,” his arms wading through invisible water, shaking in his sneakers like a frenzied, enthusiastic child. It is now the witching hour. Are you ready?
“The Gloaming” is just one of the six Hail to the Thief songs the band tore through tonight, including the first “Sit Down. Stand Up.” since 2004 (we have a lot of “the rain drops” to make up for since then). “A Wolf at the Door” has only been played sporadically in the past, and Yorke nailed every single line of the spoken word Capitalist fairytale — investments and dealers! investments and dealers! — showing us just how much they’ve rehearsed for these momentous shows.
Going heavy on this 2003 album isn’t surprising, considering Radiohead just released the excellent Hail to the Thief (Live Recordings 2003-2009), packed with songs so great that they even caught Yorke by surprise. “I was shocked by the kind of energy behind the way we played,” he said at the time. “I barely recognized us, and it helped me find a way forward.” (As my colleague Rob Sheffield noted, “It’s welcome news to see Thom Yorke suddenly remembering that there once was a band called Radiohead, and that they were actually very good at playing music.”)
“Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” will always be a highlight in any Radiohead show, if not just to watch O’Brien contribute those soulful backing vocals. The guitarist is often overlooked, but glance over at him during songs like this, and he’s singing his heart out, delivering magic. Another heartwarming In Rainbows moment: both Greenwood brothers facing each other during “Bodysnatchers,” with Colin beaming. We’re so back, baby.
Yorke isn’t one to address crowds during shows — he’s not going to tell a story about his childhood, like Bruce Springsteen. But when the band emerged to rapturous applause for the encore, he uttered two simple words while clutching an acoustic guitar: “Fair enough.” He then dove into “Fake Plastic Trees,” the only Bends material to fly in from Planet Telex tonight, complete with an audience singalong and cell phone flashlights (by this time, the video screen had officially lifted, leaving a clear view). The same goes for Amnesiac — we only got “You and Whose Army,” but it was absolutely killer, with a camera on Yorke’s mic, capturing his dramatic eyebrow raises and hand gestures.
Elsewhere, the encore portion featured the usual spectacular suspects, from a thrilling “There There” to a stop in OK Computer-ville, including “Subterranean Homesick Alien,” “Paranoid Android,” and their usual closer, “Karma Police.” A gut-wrenchingly beautiful rendition of the Kid A staple “How to Disappear Completely” was cushioned in between these, a reminder that we are indeed here, and this is really happening.
This is the first Radiohead tour without a new album, and their first show of any kind since they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 (only O’Brien and Selway showed up to the ceremony). Several factors — grief, mental health, and intraband tension over the Israel-Hamas conflict — almost prevented them from returning at all. In a way, Yorke’s “Fair enough” sounds like an admission that they’re officially, unambiguously, classic rock. He reportedly sent around a 65-song setlist for the band to rehearse, and they plan on changing up the setlist from night to night — a major pivot from their past refusal to play the classics. It would be easy to call this a cash grab, but as they’ve proved over the last seven years, they don’t need to do these shows. This was for the fans.
Radiohead Set List: Nov. 4, 2025
“Let Down”
“2 + 2 = 5”
“Sit Down. Stand Up.”
“Bloom”
“Lucky”
“Ful Stop”
“The Gloaming”
“Myxomatosis”
“No Surprises”
“Videotape”
“Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”
“Everything in Its Right Place”
“15 Step”
“The National Anthem”
“Daydreaming”
“A Wolf at the Door”
“Bodysnatchers”
“Idioteque”
Encore:
“Fake Plastic Trees”
“Subterranean”
“Paranoid Android”
“How to Disappear Completely”
“You And Whose Army?”
“There There”
“Karma Police”
From Rolling Stone US.
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