British music has had such a banner year in 2025, that Radiohead’s return has flown a touch under the radar. With Olivia Dean, Yungblud, Lola Young and RAYE all conquering the Billboard charts in the U.S., and Oasis putting on the biggest tour of the year, the return of the art-rock fivepiece after an seven-year absence feels low-key in comparison. There is no new music to plug, simply a run of shows in major European cities, and an unpredictable setlist – this is as understated as an arena-headlining band could ever dream to be.
That said, 2025 has still been notable for the group. Earlier this year they reassessed their 2003 album Hail to The Thief and worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company for a new production of Hamlet. Elsewhere “Let Down,” an album track from their 1997 opus OK Computer went viral and landed on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time. Their Spotify monthly listener count now tops 44m users, higher than other British rockers such as Oasis, The Rolling Stones and even The Beatles.
All this comes despite a period of relative inactivity. The band’s last LP A Moon Shaped Pool was released in 2016 and the group completed touring for it in 2018. Yorke told The Times in an exclusive interview that touring was paused for Radiohead because “the wheels came off a bit,” but the fire has still burned. Since their hiatus, each member has embarked on solo projects, most prominently garage-rock side project The Smile featuring frontman Thon Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
Last year, however, word of a comeback started to spread. Bassist Colin Greenwood let slip that the group had reconvened to rehearse their back catalogue, and rumours of a wider tour soon followed. A limited run of tour dates was announced in September, featuring 20 shows in Madrid, Spain; Bologna, Italy; London, England; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Berlin, Germany. 70 songs were touted as being in contention (the band have played 43 different tracks thus far) and the group announced they would be playing in the round for the first time.
The shows thus far have been a triumph, a rare chance for the band to look back at their discography and perform live without the necessity of promoting new music. This is a comeback that has proved as mysterious and thrilling as their studio material thus far. As the tour hit the halfway mark, Billboard was on hand to see the band’s first U.K. show in eight years. These were the best moments.
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Round We Go
While the in the round, amphitheater-style staging is nothing new (the ancient Greeks got there first) it still feels like an underutilized production for modern touring acts. Then again, few acts have five equally engrossing members who each contribute equally and deserve their moment in the spotlight. The 20,000-strong audience at London’s O2 Arena were grateful for the opportunity to see the band up close and in a way they’ve never played before. A dynamism to each song was added, particularly as Yorke stomped around stage during the ravier moments like “Idioteque” and “15 Step.”
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Fitter, Happier, More Productive
The band utilised The O2’s huge atrium entrance by hanging a banner featuring lyrics from 1997’s “Fitter Happier,” a dour shrug at the banality and shallowness of modern living. It set the tone for the performance that followed with five tracks from OK Computer making up the setlist. The LP’s big three (“Paranoid Android”, “Karma Police” and “No Surprises”) all received airings, and their messages of processing reality amidst political tyranny and technological advances still resonates deeply with their deeply cynical Gen X and Millennial crowd.
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“Weird Fishes” Wins the Night
One of Radiohead’s greatest qualities is that they do not boast a signature tune. Sure, “Karma Police” and “Paranoid Android” might have recognition, and “Creep” is technically their most successful song (though they have all but disavowed it), but it changes from fan to fan. “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” from 2007’s In Rainbows could make a stirring case for being the band’s complete song: gorgeously crafted, deeply emotional and beloved by the whole fanbase. So much so that fans trip over themselves to join in with guitarist Ed O’Brien’s yelping backing vocals over the song’s spindly chorus. A truly sensational moment.
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Everyone is So Near
25 years on, KID A still confounds and enthrals in equal measure. The heel-turn after OK Computer’s massive success to chase ambient electronica (“Treefingers”) and oblique lyrics (“Idioteque”) was daring, and created a schism in the fanbase and general public. Tonight’s mid-section with three back-to-back songs from the album – “Idioteque,” “Everything in Its Right Place”, and “The National Anthem” – showcased how risky it was for the band to turn its back on rock stardom, but a path well worth taking. Leftover confetti from previous shows at the venue fluttered down from the rafters during “The National Anthem”, a jazzy, prog-rock beast of a song with no chorus. Go figure…
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Hail to The Thief Has its Moment
Hail to the Thief, the band’s sixth LP from 2003, has gone under somewhat of a reappraisal in recent years. Most notably from the band themselves who have revisited and retooled the songs, which fused both rock and electronica, and given them a chance to shine in fresh contexts. A recently-issued live album from the era and the aforementioned Hamlet production suggests the band felt there was something to revisit. Five tracks from the LP made appearances, with the freakier moments (“Sit Down. Stand Up.” and “The Gloaming”) and straight-forward anthems (“There There”) both connecting with a patient and knowing crowd.
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The O2 Got The Bends
The band’s tour setlists in 2025 have struck the balance between fan appeasement and internal satisfaction. For every “Bloom” from 2012’s The Kings of Limbs – dark, knotty, impenetrable – they know how to give the crowd what they want, namely in the shape of the alt-rock bangers that made the crowd fall in love with them in the first place. “Fake Plastic Trees” and “Just” from 1995’s The Bends gave the encore a fittingly glorious finale on this special night.
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