British rock giants Radiohead announced a 20-date European tour in November and December on Wednesday, the first live performances by the rock band behind the seminal albums OK Computer and Kid A around the turn of the century.
“Last year, we got together to rehearse, just for the hell of it,” drummer Philip Selway said on Instagram.
“After a seven-year pause, it felt really good to play the songs again and reconnect with a musical identity that has become lodged deep inside all five of us.”
Radiohead, which also comprises singer and main songwriter Thom Yorke, guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien, and bass player Colin Greenwood, will play four dates each in Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen, and Berlin.
The group’s landmark third album, 1997’s OK Computer, explored themes like anxiety and alienation, marking a departure from the optimism of the Britpop era.
Radiohead’s return follows the reunion of Oasis, Britain’s biggest band of the 1990s, in a critically acclaimed tour this summer.
Following the announcement, the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement immediately called to boycott the shows over Greenwood’s appearances in Israel with Dudu Tassa, a frequent collaborator.
“Even as Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza reaches its latest, most brutal and depraved phase of induced starvation, Radiohead continues with its complicit silence, while one member repeatedly crosses our picket line, performing a short drive away from a live-streamed genocide, alongside an Israeli artist that entertains genocidal Israeli forces,” an Instagram post read.
“Palestinians reiterate our call for the boycott of Radiohead concerts, including its rumored tour, until the group convincingly distances itself, at a minimum, from Jonny Greenwood’s crossing of our peaceful picket line during Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” it says.
Cancelling shows
In May, following their performances in Tel Aviv, Greenwood and Tassa canceled shows in the UK due to what they said were credible threats against the venues and audiences.
Greenwood previously defended his choice to play in festivals in Europe with Tassa, saying in a statement: ‘I’ve been collaborating with Dudu and releasing music with him since 2008 – and working privately long before that... Silencing Israeli artists for being born Jewish in Israel doesn’t seem like any way to reach an understanding between the two sides of this apparently endless conflict.”
In May, Yorke issued a statement that equally blamed Israel and Hamas for the war in Gaza.