Every Song on First Night

After an absence of seven years, Radiohead returned to the stage on Tuesday night (Nov. 4) for a career-spanning set at Madrid’s Movistar Arena.

The highly anticipated show was the first of a sold-out 20-date run, which will see the Oxford-formed band play across the U.K. and Europe – including a four-night residency at London’s O2 Arena – with shows in Madrid, Bologna, Copenhagen and Berlin through November and December.

This was the first time the band had performed together live onstage since summer 2018, when they performed at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Aug. 1. In a press statement released earlier this year, drummer Philip Selway explained what it meant for the five-piece to reunite.

“Last year, we got together to rehearse, just for the hell of it,” he said. “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 called a hiatus after wrapping up an extensive world tour in support of their last full-length effort, 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool. The record became their sixth No. 1 on the U.K.’s Official Album Charts and hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and landed them a Coachella headline slot in 2017.

Each member has remained active and recording, most notablly frontman Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who formed The Smile with drummer Thom Skinner and released three studio LPs. Radiohead-related activity ramped up over the past year with a live reissue of 2003 album Hail to the Thief and reworked version of that LP appearing in a Manchester production of Hamlet.

Personal loss and emotional burnout contributed to the group’s decision to step back from the stage. In a recent interview, frontman Thom Yorke reflected on the touring activity for A Moon Shaped Pool. “I guess the wheels came off a bit, so we had to stop,” Yorke said. “The shows felt great but it was, like, let’s halt now before we walk off this cliff.”

He also discussed his personal grief following the death of his first wife, Dr. Rachel Owen, in late 2016, whom he had separated from a year earlier. “I needed to stop anyway, because I hadn’t really given myself time to grieve,” he said. “My grief was coming out in ways that made me think, I need to take this away.”

Having since given way to reflection, Radiohead appeared rejuvenated onstage in Madrid. The band played a 25-song set, encompassing some of the most taut and tender moments from their nine studio albums. The show was opened by “Let Down,” a song from 1997’s OK Computer that has become a streaming sensation in recent months, and the song debuted at No. 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August to give them their first appearance on the chart since 2008’s “Nude.”

The setlist – which is expected to vary night to night – featured a number of big hits (“Karma Police”) and fan favorites (“Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”), but omitted some of their most well-known songs, too, including “Creep” from 1994’s Pablo Honey.

Here’s a look at the setlist from Radiohead’s return to the stage at Madrid’s Movistar Arena.