Thom Yorke solo shows promise unique interpretations of Radiohead songs

By David Barrington

NZ Herald·

5 Aug, 2024 11:00 PM3 mins to read

Thom Yorke is visiting New Zealand for three solo shows. Photo / Greg Bowker

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke reveals what fans can expect at Auckland and Christchurch concerts later this year.

British singer and musician Thom Yorke will play three New Zealand shows at the end of October that promise a unique retrospective of his repertoire with the bands Radiohead, The Smile and Atoms for Peace as well as his solo work and collaborations with artists including Unkle and Burial.

Best known as the frontman of seminal alternative rock band Radiohead, Yorke will begin the 15-date solo tour with one night at the Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch, followed by two dates at Spark Arena in Auckland, before continuing on to perform shows in Australia, Singapore and Japan through until the end of November. The venue for each gig will be fully seated.

The limited tour, titled “Everything”, raises intriguing questions about what songs he will play and what form they might take.

In a statement, Yorke said: “I will be alone on stage trying a new kind of solo show thing playing versions of the songs I have written from my recent and not so recent past.”

The title of the tour suggests fans could be treated to just about anything from Yorke’s back catalogue, while it may be a more specific reference to the song Everything In Its Right Place from the Radiohead album Kid A, which was released in 2000. One version of the tour artwork for the gig at Sydney Opera House also includes the words “Fitter. Happier. More Productive”, words taken from a track on Radiohead’s groundbreaking 1997 album OK Computer.

Yorke has recently been performing with The Smile across Europe during the Northern Hemisphere’s spring and summer. The band, which also features Radiohead bandmates Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner, released its second studio album, Wall of Eyes, in January.

Away from Radiohead and The Smile, Yorke has released three solo studio albums: The Eraser, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes and Anima. Yorke also collaborated with legendary producer Nigel Godrich, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea and R.E.M drummer Joey Waronker to form Atoms for Peace, a supergroup who released the album Amok in 2013.

As a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, a solo show from Yorke could likely comprise intimate piano-led and acoustic guitar versions of songs which lean heavily on his distinctive vocals. As well as tracks played on modular synthesizer, the set may also incorporate a few electronic elements like looping and syncopated rhythm sections, which Yorke is known to use.

In particular, it will be interesting to see if the early Radiohead hit Creep is included in the set. Originally released in 1992, Yorke and his bandmates later stopped playing the song live after it became a huge hit and came to be synonymous with the band, who decided they did not want to be defined by it. In more recent years the track has been included in live sets, albeit sparingly. An acoustic version of Creep was included on Radiohead’s 1994 EP My Iron Lung.

With the chance of hearing stripped-back versions of gems from other Radiohead albums such as The Bends, In Rainbows and A Moon Shaped Pool, the shows should more than pique the interest of any fan of Thom Yorke and his many creative outlets.