{"id":51040,"date":"2025-11-06T17:17:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T17:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/06\/radiohead-reunion-tour-takeaways-setlist-surprises-upcoming-shows\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T17:17:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T17:17:43","slug":"radiohead-reunion-tour-takeaways-setlist-surprises-upcoming-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/06\/radiohead-reunion-tour-takeaways-setlist-surprises-upcoming-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Radiohead Reunion Tour Takeaways: Setlist Surprises, Upcoming Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tFor the Radiohead<\/a> faithful that gathered in Madrid, Spain, on Nov. 4 for the opening night<\/a> of their 2025 European tour,<\/a> the first few moments of the show were overwhelming for a multitude of reasons. Not only was the band back onstage after a seven-year hiatus \u2014 the longest break of their career by far \u2014 but they were barely visible inside a wall of video screens that surrounded their round stage in the center of the arena. It was immediately clear that this was going to be unlike any other Radiohead tour in their history, but there was little hint just how bold and unpredictable the show would become as it unfolded across opening night, and the radically different second gig the following evening. We were lucky enough to witness the two historic concerts, and we had quite a few thoughts along the way. Here are 10 big takeaways and questions we\u2019re still thinking about.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tThey\u2019ve never switched up the setlist like this<\/strong>.\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tPrior to the tour, bassist Colin Greenwood told fans that they\u2019d rehearsed 70 different songs. \u201cSo we\u2019ll play anything in any order, at any time,\u201d he said.<\/a> \u201cWe sort of take a busking attitude to the Radiohead setlist.\u201d This is the kind of thing that bands often say before tours where they essentially play the same show night after night. But he wasn\u2019t kidding. They played 25 songs on night one, and then played 14 different songs on night two, repeating only nine.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey don\u2019t have a new album to support at the moment, which is giving them the opportunity to have fun as they journey through their past. At times it almost felt like watching a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show during the much-missed \u201cStump the Band\u201d era of 2013\/14, where anything felt possible at any moment, even if they weren\u2019t about to pick up a sign from the audience and break into an unrehearsed \u201cWooly Bully.\u201d We\u2019ll see if they keep the setlists this loose as the tour goes on, but for now, it\u2019s giving these shows an exciting, unpredictable energy. <\/p>\n

\n\t\tThe Bends<\/em> 30th anniversary celebration is finally here<\/strong>.\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tMany Radiohead fans were a little disappointed when the 30th anniversary of The Bends<\/em> came and went this past March without a deluxe reissue or any sort of acknowledgement. But they played a majestic \u201cFake Plastic Trees\u201d on the first night, and then treated the crowd to \u201c(Nice Dream),\u201d \u201cPlanet Telex,\u201d \u201cStreet Spirit (Fade Out), and \u201cThe Bends\u201d on night two. \u201c(Nice Dream)\u201d sent shockwaves through the crowd, since they hadn\u2019t played it since 2009.<\/p>\n

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\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tThe setlist listed \u201cJust\u201d as an alternative to \u201cPlanet Telex,\u201d meaning odds are high it\u2019ll surface very soon even though that song also hasn\u2019t been touched since 2009. It\u2019s also very possible we\u2019ll hear \u201cMy Iron Lung\u201d since that\u2019s a live staple, but could we also get the first \u201cHigh and Dry\u201d since 1998? The first \u201cBones\u201d since 2006? The first \u201cBullet Proof..I Wish I Was\u201d since 2008? The first \u201cBlack Star\u201d since 2006? Can we even dream of the first \u201cSulk\u201d since 1995? Before this tour is done, all of that might indeed happen. (They might need to bring smelling salts to the floor to revive some fans if \u201cSulk\u201d happens.)<\/p>\n

\n\t\tDrummergeddon 2025 has hit Radiohead<\/strong> (sort of<\/strong>).\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tAs our eyes adjusted to the in-the-round staging, we noticed a new fellow on a second drum kit who most certainly wasn\u2019t longtime touring drummer Clive Deamer. (The first clue was that he had a full head of hair.) The mysterious figure wasn\u2019t introduced, since virtually nothing was said onstage, but it turns out he\u2019s Chris Vatalaro. He\u2019s toured with Imogen Heap in the past and has also played with Antibalas, Elysian Fields, Richard Fairhurst, and many others. He\u2019s never done anything as high-profile as this tour, but he worked seamlessly alongside Phil Selway, who\u2019s been holding down the beat in this band for decades. We\u2019ll miss the symmetry of two bald drummers playing at once, but are still happy to welcome Vatalaro into the Radiohead family.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe swap also means that Radiohead can now arguably be said to have joined the very long list of bands \u2014 including Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Guns N\u2019 Roses, the Who, Oasis, Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, and Primus \u2014 who parted ways with a drummer this year. Drummergeddon 2025<\/a> isn\u2019t a myth. It\u2019s real, and it\u2019s spreading fast.<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\t\tThe screens are a work in progress.<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tThe screens gradually began lifting throughout opening night, but large chunks often remained down, and they moved continuously throughout the main set. Depending on your vantage point, the band was often semi-obstructed or blocked from view. And even when Thom Yorke was directly in front of you, dancing like a maniac during \u201cMyxomatosis,\u201d the vibe would be sometimes be dampened when a screen lowered right in front of him. (At one point, a woman in front of me texted a friend \u201cI can\u2019t see because of these screens. This is insanity!\u201d) For the extended encore section on night one, the screens were finally completely raised. You could feel the crowd breathe a big sigh of relief since everyone could finally see the entire stage.<\/p>\n

\n\tA quick scroll of the Radiohead subreddit after the show revealed that not all fans were thrilled with the staging. \u201cTear down the wall!\u201d one fan wrote.<\/a> \u201cThe people I know who were there were saying it was very hard to feel engaged when they were so removed from the performers.\u201d This person wasn\u2019t alone. \u201cSorry for being negs, but the cage that makes it almost impossible to see what\u2019s going on stage,\u201d wrote another,<\/a> \u201cand the video screens above it are so jittery and distorted like Max Headroom that you also can\u2019t see what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe second show began in very similar fashion \u2014 but the screens came up about a third of the way through, and basically stayed up the rest of the night. We weren\u2019t as \u201cnegs\u201d about the situation on night one as some of the fans, but night two definitely worked better. Let\u2019s hope they stick with that plan. The screens are very cool, but we want to see as much of the band as possible.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWe\u2019re on the verge of a complete OK Computer<\/em><\/strong>.\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tThey played six OK Computer<\/em> songs on night one: \u201cKarma Police,\u201d \u201cLet Down,\u201d \u201cLucky,\u201d \u201cNo Surprises,\u201d \u201cParanoid Android,\u201d and \u201cSubterranean Homesick Alien.\u201d They repeated \u201cLet Down\u201d and \u201cParanoid Android\u201d on night two, and added in \u201cAirbag\u201d and \u201cExit Music (For a Film).\u201d That\u2019s eight of the 12 tracks on the album, or really eight of the 11 since \u201cFitter Happier\u201d isn\u2019t really doable without a vintage Macintosh on lead vocals. They had \u201cClimbing Up the Walls\u201d on the setlist for night two, though it was replaced by \u201cMyxomatosis.\u201d If they throw in \u201cClimbing Up the Walls\u201d soon and just add in \u201cElectioneering\u201d and \u201cThe Tourist,\u201d that\u2019s the whole album. \u201cThe Tourist\u201d was in rotation on the Moon Shaped Pool<\/em> tour, but \u201cElectioneering\u201d is the \u201cSulk\u201d of OK Computer<\/em>. They haven\u2019t done it since 1998. We wouldn\u2019t be surprised, however, if that streak ends in the very near future.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tHail to the Thief<\/em> is getting a lot of attention, too<\/strong>.\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tOpening night sometimes felt like a trip back to 2003 since they played \u201c2 + 2 = 5,\u201d \u201cA Wolf at the Door,\u201d \u201cMyxomatosis,\u201d \u201cSit Down. Stand Up,\u201d \u201cThe Gloaming,\u201d and \u201cThere There.\u201d (They hadn\u2019t done \u201cSit Down. Stand Up\u201d since 2004. Hey, fellow Radiohead freaks, is 21 years the record for longest gap between live performances of any song in their catalog?) The album is front of mind for Yorke, who recently worked on the stage production of Hamlet Hail to the Thief<\/em> (which mashes up the album and the Shakespeare play) and the surprise live album Hail to the Thief (Live Recordings 2003\u20132009<\/em>)<\/a> was released earlier this year. There are 14 songs on Hail To The Thief<\/em>, and we\u2019re unlikely to hear all of them, but we\u2019re rooting for \u201cA Punch Up at a Wedding.\u201d They haven\u2019t done it since 2003, and it didn\u2019t make the cut for the recent live album, but that song rules.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWill Pablo Honey<\/em> have a moment?<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s often one asshole at a Radiohead show who spends half the night screaming \u201cCreep!\u201d at the top of his lungs. We aren\u2019t requesting a \u201cCreep\u201d here. They did it 18 times on the Moon Shaped Pool<\/em> tour, and that was 18 more times than anyone expected. But they also did \u201cBlow Out\u201d once. It\u2019s not hard to imagine another \u201cBlow Out\u201d at some point this fall; aside from that, \u201cYou\u201d and \u201cLurgee\u201d are the only other Pablo Honey<\/em> songs they\u2019ve done this century, and it\u2019s been over 20 years since they played either of them. It would be an incredible moment if they busted out \u201cStop Whispering,\u201d \u201cThinking About You,\u201d or \u201cRipcord,\u201d but we just don\u2019t see it happening.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tHow else will this evolve in the coming weeks?<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tThis is a pretty unique tour, where they\u2019re doing four nights each in five European cities. After just two shows, we\u2019ve heard 39 different songs. If they truly rehearsed 70 tunes, they have another 31 to go. Will nights three and four in Madrid see as many setlist changes as we saw at the first two shows? If so, they could hit all 70 before leaving Spain. (Let\u2019s hope that means more Amnesiac<\/em>. It\u2019s been pretty neglected so far.) If that\u2019s the plan, the fans in Bologna, London, Copenhagen, and Berlin are likely in for a similar treat. But right now, it\u2019s really anyone\u2019s guess until each night\u2019s show happens, which is part of the fun.<\/p>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\t\tAre there standards they\u2019ll play every night?<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s a list of the songs played both nights: \u201c2 + 2 = 5,\u201d \u201cFul Stop,\u201d \u201cYou and Whose Army?,\u201d \u201cIdioteque,\u201d \u201cBodysnatchers,\u201d \u201cThere There,\u201d \u201cMyxomatosis,\u201d \u201cLet Down,\u201d \u201cWeird Fishes\/Arpeggi,\u201d \u201cParanoid Android,\u201d and \u201cEverything in Its Right Place.\u201d To use another Springsteen comparison, how many of these are a \u201cBadlands\u201d or \u201cBorn to Run\u201d that we\u2019re guaranteed to get every night? It\u2019s very possible the answer is none of them. But if any of these songs are genuine standards in Radiohead\u2019s live set, it\u2019s probably \u201cIdioteque,\u201d \u201cParanoid Android,\u201d and \u201cEverything in Its Right Place.\u201d We\u2019d be surprised not<\/em> to see at least two of those three on any given night.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tIs the tour coming to America?<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tLet\u2019s not forget the biggest question on many Radiohead fans\u2019 minds. There are currently no dates on the books after the European leg wraps up Dec. 12 in Berlin. Will they really rev the machine up after all these years and only hit five European cities before powering it down again? Anything is possible, but an American leg in 2026 feels like a fairly reasonable bet. If that\u2019s the case, expect an even crazier scramble for tickets than usual. This is the tour Radiohead fans have waited years to see. They could probably book 20 nights at Madison Square Garden and sell them all out. (And maybe, somewhere along the way, they\u2019ll break the 30-year \u201cSulk\u201d drought.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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