The four concerts that Radiohead held at the O2 Arena between 21 and 25 November rewrote the statistics of the prestigious London space. Every evening over 22,200 people attended one residency which, day after day, has adjusted the attendance record, exceeding several times the record held by Metallica since 2017. The highest figure, 22,355 spectators, has consecrated Thom Yorke's band as the new absolute reference for the arena.
Christian D'Acuna, senior director of programming at the O2, underlined how the series of shows is destined to leave a mark in the history of the structure: “These four record-breaking evenings will enter the memory of the concert hall, with Radiohead capable of breaking the attendance record every night”. D'Acuna thanked the group for choosing the O2 as an exclusive stop in the United Kingdom, underlining the variety of the setlists, different from time to time and drawn from a now classic catalogue.
On the musical front, the start of the first London show followed what was seen in Madrid and Bologna, with the initial pairing “Planet Telex”–”2 + 2 = 5” followed by “Sit Down. Stand Up.”. But the evening also introduced a significant surprise: “Climbing Up The Walls” returned to the repertoire for the first time since 2018, enriching the sequence of unexpected moments that characterized the residency European.
The spirit of the tour
The live selection spans the entire discography, from the most experimental albums such as “Kid A” and “Amnesiac” to the masterpiece “Ok Computer” and the more recent “Hail To The Thief” and “In Rainbows” and to the latest work created by the English band, “A Moon Shaped Pool” from 2016, confirming the non-linear approach that Yorke and his companions have consolidated over time. For the public, the wait does not only concern the songs, but also the order, the combinations and the surprises that the band will choose to insert from time to time.
In a recent message to fans, drummer and percussionist Philip Selway explained the spirit in which the band returned to activity: “Last year we got together to rehearse, just for the sake of it. After a seven-year hiatus, it was great to get back to playing the songs and reconnect with a musical identity that has become a deep part of all five of us. This also made us want to play some concerts together, so we hope you can come to one of the next dates. For now it will just be these, but Who knows where all this will take us.”
Although they haven't released new material since 2016, Radiohead seem to be focused above all on the pleasure of playing together again. “We didn't think beyond the tour,” admitted Thom Yorke. “We're just amazed that we got this far.” In a recent interview with the Times, the frontman he then explained the reasons for the interruption of the band's activity. “I think at some point the wheels came off a little bit, so we had to stop,” said the Radiohead leader, recalling the period following the 2016 “A Moon Shaped Pool” tour. “There were a lot of elements at play. The concerts were going great, but the feeling was: let's stop now, before we go off a cliff.”
Yorke explained that the stop was also necessary on a personal level: “I needed to stop anyway. I had never really given myself time to grieve,” he said, referring to the death of Rachel Owen, his ex-partner and mother of his children, who passed away in 2016 from cancer. “The pain was coming out in ways that made me think: I need to get away from this.” The singer described his ambivalent connection to music at that time: “Music can help you find meaning in things, but having to stop, even when it makes sense to do so, because you're not well… even in the worst moments I can't. I need something to hold on to. But there were times when I was looking for comfort in playing the piano and it hurt. Physically. The music itself hurt, because I was going through trauma.”
The concert calendar
The online calendar on the official website also includes multiple consecutive concerts in each city. After the four stops in Madrid, Bologna and London, here are the next dates:
- Copenhagen (Royal Arena) – 1, 2, 4, 5 December
- Berlin (Uber Arena) – 8, 9, 11, 12 December
Radiohead's latest album, “A Moon Shaped Pool,” dates back to 2016. The following year, the band released a 20th anniversary reissue of their seminal LP “OK Computer,” titled “OKNOTOK 1997 2017,” and in 2021 they released “Kid A Mnesia,” an anniversary collection featuring tracks from “Kid A,” “Amnesiac” and previously unreleased material. Since then, however, Yorke has focused on The Smile, a project he created with Greenwood and drummer Tom Skinner.
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
