Ed O’Brien has discussed Radiohead attracting younger fans, and explained why the band can’t play more than 20 shows per year.
The Oxford group returned to the stage in the UK and Europe last year, marking their first live dates together since 2018. They played a run of 20 arena concerts across five cities, including four nights at London’s O2.
In March, guitarist O’Brien confirmed that Radiohead plan to hit the road again in 2027 and beyond. “What we’re going to do is, every year we’re going to do a different continent, and we’re going to do 20 shows each year. No more, no less,” he said at the time.
Elaborating on the reasoning behind limiting the tour to 20 concerts across one continent, O’Brien explained: “We want to give absolutely everything each night.
“We do not ever want it to be like we’re going through the motions or we’re having to run on empty. We’ve got to be able to do it. And you know what? We’re not spring chickens anymore.”
Now, in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, the musician has spoken further on the topic. However, in terms of the 20-concert limit, he told fans to “take that with a pinch of salt”.
“I don’t think we’ll do any more than 20 shows,” he added.
“Because you can’t do any more – these songs, they’re too powerful. The shows last year were really emotional. By the end of it, you were drained.”
O’Brien also talked about Radiohead’s young audience, saying their “biggest demographic, which you can see from streaming, is 16 to 24”.
He went on: “There’s an outpouring of emotion from them and from us, so in order to do more shows, you’d have to somehow limit the amount you gave to each performance.”
O’Brien concluded: “And I think we’re unwilling to do that.”
While he has shared Radiohead’s future touring plans, the guitarist told NME this spring that the band had “not even talked about another record” yet. “Where did you get this idea that there’s another Radiohead record?” he asked us.
He reflected on the “amazing” tour, too, saying Radiohead were “so blessed that people want to see what we do, but at the heart of it, it’s five people”.
“The songs can kind of play themselves in a way, but if there’s the love and that feeling between the five of us, and there was, and it was glorious,” he told us.
O’Brien was talking to NME about his latest solo album ‘Blue Morpho’. In a four-star review of that record, NME described it as a “beautiful path to healing”.
Meanwhile, the musician recently released a new one-off single, ‘Abbeycwmhir’.
Ed O’Brien’s UK and European solo tour kicks off in October. Find any remaining tickets here.
In a glowing, five-star review of one of Radiohead’s gigs in London last November, NME wrote: “What a show: a visceral energy, a tasteful spectacle, all delivered with a generosity of spirit, Yorke in full rockstar mode as the band trade places to tend to each corner of the venue.
“For a band once embarrassed by the notion of ‘arena rock’, nobody does it better. A new album and another night like this can’t come soon enough.”
The reunion saw Radiohead break the attendance record for London’s O2, surpassing Metallica, who had held the title since 2017.
