Just three months ago, one thought about Radiohead a concert in 2025—or any year in the future—seemed impossible. Since the group completed its Moon shaped pool tour in August 2018, they were busy with various side projects. And we mean Very busy: frontman Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood have released three album like Smile; Greenwood has composed scores for several films, including Paul Thomas Anderson's recent epic. One battle after another; Yorke released a record with producer Mark Pritchard; drummer Phil Selway and guitarist Ed O'Brien both left solo album; and bassist Colin Greenwood released amazing Radiohead photo album. So yeah, it's been a long seven years since we've seen these five guys on stage together. Will this ever happen again?
When Yorke heard rumors of a band reunion last year, he quickly shut them down. “I don’t know about it and I don’t care,” he said. said. “Don’t offend anyone and thank you for your concern.”
We're a little worried about this. And that's why it was like a damn miracle when the lights went out at Madrid's Movistar Arena before the start of the Radiohead concert. European Tour 2025and they took the stage after the longest break of their careers. It was worth the wait.
They opened with the words “Let down“, marking the second time they started the set with OK Computer awesome ever since Manchester in 2017 (this is recent entered the Hot 100 cool 28 years after its release thanks to TikTok, because children are just like us – hysterical and useless).
It was immediately felt that the band was opening a new era for several reasons. They were joined by drummer and percussionist Chris Vatalaro, a Selway resident. employee who played with Imogen Heap, Anohni and the Johnsons, Jarvis Cocker and many others – who appears to have replaced Portishead's Clive Deemer, their previous live drummer. But best of all, today was Radiohead's first time on tour. For the first few songs, they were hidden by a translucent video curtain that began to partially lift during the confident “Bloom.” King of Limbs.
The video screen was divided into panels that moved up and down throughout the performance, always covering most of the stage. This made the band difficult to see at times, but York made sure to constantly change positions so everyone in the arena could see him. And when we say “change” we actually mean “dance” in the sweet Yorkie style we all know and love. It was a joy to see those movements again after all these years, whether it was when he clutched the synth during “Ful Stop” or during “The Gloaming,” his hands wading through invisible water, shaking in his sneakers like a frenzied, ecstatic child. Now is the witching hour. Are you ready?
“Twilight” is only one of six Hail the thief songs the band performed tonight, including the first “Sit down. Get up.” since 2004 (we've got a lot of “raindrops” to make up for since then). In the past, The Wolf at the Door has only been played sporadically, and Yorke has captured every spoken word line of the Capitalist Tale – Investments and Dealers! Investments and Dealers! – showing us how much they rehearsed for these important shows.
I take this seriously album 2003 this isn't surprising considering Radiohead have just released an excellent Hail the Thief (live recordings 2003–2009)filled with songs so great that it even took Yorke by surprise. “I was shocked by the energy we played with,” he said at the time. “I barely recognized us, and that helped me find a way forward.” (As my colleague Rob Sheffield said marked“It's nice to see that Thom Yorke suddenly remembered that Radiohead once existed and that they actually played very good music.”
“Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” will always be a highlight of any Radiohead show, if not just watching O'Brien deliver his soulful backing vocals. The guitarist is often overlooked, but look at him during songs like this and he's singing his heart out, creating magic. Another touching one In the rainbow moment: both Greenwood brothers look at each other during Body Snatchers, Colin beams. We're so back, baby.
Yorke isn't one to address the crowd during performances—he's not going to tell a story about his childhood like Bruce Springsteen. But as 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 due to arrive tonight from Planet Telex, complete with audience singing and cellphone flashlights (by this time the video screen had officially risen, leaving a clear image). The same goes for amnesiac – we only have You and Whose Army, but it was absolutely amazing: the camera on Yorke's microphone captured his dramatic eyebrow raises and hand gestures.
Elsewhere, the encore featured the usual impressive suspects, from the thrilling “There There” to the stop at OK Computer-ville, including “Underground Homesick Alien”, “Paranoid Android” and their usual closer “Karma Police”. Painfully beautiful performance Kid A In between lay the core phrase “How to Disappear Completely,” a reminder that we are really here and this is really happening.
This is Radiohead's first tour without a new album and their first show since they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 (O'Brien and Selway only appeared for the ceremony). Some factors – grief, mental health and intra-group tensions over the conflict between Israel and Hamas – made it almost impossible for them to return at all. In some ways, Yorke's “Fair Enough” sounds like an acknowledgment that they are officially and unequivocally classic rock. He has reportedly sent the band a 65-song setlist to rehearse, and they plan to vary the setlist from night to night – a major turning point after their past refusal to play the classics. It would be easy to call it a money grab, but as they've proven over the last seven years, they don't need to make these shows. It was for the fans.
Radiohead setlist: November 4, 2025
“Let down”
“2 + 2 = 5”
“Sit down. Stand up.”
“Blossom”
“Lucky”
“Full Stop”
“Dusk”
“Myxomatosis”
“No surprises”
“Video recording”
“Strange Fish/Arpeggi”
“Everything is in its place”
“15 steps”
“National anthem”
“Dream”
“Wolf at the Door”
“Body Snatchers”
“Idiot”
Encore:
“Fake plastic trees”
“Underground”
“Paranoid Android”
“How to Disappear Completely”
“You and whose army?”
“There There”
“Karma Police”
