Radiohead Tickets

Short Biography
RADIOHEAD RETURN TO AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND IN NOVEMBER

"Taking the plunge into this band's mysteries is one of rock's true pleasures." Rolling Stone (on The King Of Limbs)

"Yorke sidled into his terse but radiant falsetto, his voice glowing over the room like a chandelier." New York Times (Roseland Ballroom NYC September 2011)

"Yorke never, ever stopped moving.  Neither did the crowd."  Spin (Roseland Ballroom NYC September 2011)

Admirers of seminal alternative rock and genre-bending music take notice; Chugg Entertainment today announces the landmark return of Radiohead to Australia and New Zealand.  It has been nearly a decade since the Oxford bred five-piece last graced Australian shores in 2004, and a staggering 14 years since playing in New Zealand in 1998.  It is safe to say that their welcome return is certain to be the live music milestone of the year.

Murmurs of a return to our corner of the globe have been rife for years now, even more so in this era of social media with nothing remaining secret for long.  Radiohead, however, manage to defy this with their celebrated return being one of the biggest and best kept secrets this year; something to be expected from a band shrouded in mystery, everything they do an enigma.  In 2011 following their guerrilla Glastonbury set in June where they appeared as a ‘surprise guest,' September saw them catch New York City audiences unawares with the announcement, only one week out, of two intimate shows at the Roseland Ballroom.

Radiohead will perform six shows only this November, starting at Auckland's Vector Arena on Tuesday 6th November, then Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Friday 9th November, two shows at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th November, and two shows in Melbourne at Rod Laver Arena on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th November.  Tickets for all shows go on sale in just three days time at 9am (local time) on Thursday 1st March.  For a band that is headlining major festivals across the globe, these Australian shows in relatively intimate settings are a clear indicator of a band that does things their own way.  

With a long-standing reputation steeped in genre-redefining motions throughout their more than 20 year career, Radiohead have proved themselves to be one of the most influential bands of our generation, forever appealing to the public appetite with their ever evolving cut-and-paste sonic collages.  From the band's earlier style of melodic rock songs accompanied by dense riffs and ethereal atmospheres, through to their later experimentation with song structures, incorporating ambient, avant-garde and electronic influences.

In the mid-1980s school friends Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, beats), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboard, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesizers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion) formed a group called "On A Friday" referring to the band's usual rehearsal day in their school's music room.  From a beginning in the progressive indie scene of the late 1980s in Oxfordshire, they began to garner attention from critics and music labels alike and in 1991 signed a six-album recording contract with EMI.

From early releases Pablo Honey (1993) and The Bends (1995), it was their third studio album OK Computer (1997) which well and truly catapulted the group to international fame with the album often being acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s with Thom Yorke's maudlin lyrics polished by the ensemble's three-guitar thrust which relied on texture instead of virtuosity.

Their follow up albums - both recorded at the same time - Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) marked a watershed in the band's career, with their sound ripening and becoming far more diversified, appropriating underground styles from Kraut-rock to minimalistic electronic beats and experimentation with less overt guitar parts.  

Radiohead's ever increasing ambition saw the delivery of Hail To The Thief (2003), a nod to their political musings (so titled in honour of George W. Bush's ‘stolen' presidential election).  An album relatively direct in structure yet retaining elements of the experimentation of its predecessors.

Their seventh studio offering, In Rainbows (2007), saw Radiohead once again show that they are more than just musicians, but artists who create a sensory encounter that can transcend the studio and stage, lacing together Yorke's melancholic lines with up-tempo compositions.  In what some say was a revolt against the commercially-driven powerhouse of major music labels, In Rainbows was released online to fans as a ‘pay what you want' download through the band's website.  

With their eighth studio album, The King of Limbs (2011), yet another piece of rarified beauty was delivered; a record that pushes electro-chirrups and synth-sweeps into the forefront, seeing the band reinvestigating their love of computer-driven music.  Eerie and insidious, lascivious and visceral, Radiohead once again breached new sonic territories with this dynamic release.

Radiohead's return to Australia & New Zealand will showcase the band's multi-decade career in an aural and visual celebration.  As a live band they transform their creations into an experience both towering and incandescent.  Be sure to be part of the journey.  No shows will be added to the tour - do not miss out.


TICKETS FOR ALL SHOWS ON SALE THURSDAY 1ST MARCH, 9AM (local time)


RADIOHEAD : TOUR DETAILS

Tuesday 6th November                Vector Arena, Auckland

Monday 12th & Tuesday 13th November    Entertainment Centre, Sydney

In-depth Biography
Radiohead were one of the few alternative bands of the early '90s to draw heavily from the grandiose arena rock that characterized U2's early albums. But the band internalized that epic sweep, turning it inside out to tell tortured, twisted tales of angst and alienation. Vocalist Thom Yorke's pained lyrics were brought to life by the group's three-guitar attack, which relied on texture -- borrowing as much from My Bloody Valentine and Pink Floyd as R.E.M. and Pixies -- instead of virtuosity. It took Radiohead a while to formulate their signature sound. Their 1993 debut, Pablo Honey, only suggested their potential, and one of its songs, "Creep," became an unexpected international hit, its angst-ridden lyrics making it an alternative rock anthem. Many observers pigeonholed Radiohead as a one-hit wonder, but the group's second album, The Bends, was released to terrific reviews in the band's native Britain in early 1995, helping build a more stable fan base. Having demonstrated unexpected staying power, as well as increasing ambition, Radiohead next released OK Computer, a progressive, electronic-tinged masterpiece that became one of the most acclaimed albums of the '90s.

Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar), Ed O'Brien (guitar, vocals), Jonny Greenwood (guitar), Colin Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums) formed Radiohead as students at Oxford University in 1988. Initially called "On a Friday," the band began pursuing a musical career in earnest in the early '90s, releasing the Drill EP in 1992. Shortly afterward, the group signed to EMI/Capitol and released the single "Creep," a fusion of R.E.M. and Nirvana highlighted by a noisy burst of feedback prior to the chorus. "Creep" was a moderate hit, and their next two singles, "Anyone Can Play Guitar" and "Pop Is Dead," gained a small following, even as the British music press ignored the group.

Pablo Honey, Radiohead's album, was released to mixed reviews in the spring of 1993. As the band launched a European supporting tour, "Creep" became a sudden smash hit in America, earning heavy airplay on modern rock radio and MTV. On the back of the single's success, Radiohead toured the U.S. extensively, opening for Belly and Tears for Fears. All the exposure helped Pablo Honey go gold, and "Creep" was re-released in the U.K. at the end of 1993. This time, the single became a Top Ten hit, and the band spent the following summer touring the world.

Although "Creep" made Radiohead a success, it also led many observers to peg the band as a one-hit wonder. Conscious of such thinking, the group entered the studio with producer John Leckie to record its second album, The Bends. Upon its spring 1995 release, The Bends was greeted with overwhelmingly enthusiastic reviews, all of which praised the group's deeper, more mature sound. However, positive reviews didn't sell albums, as Radiohead struggled to be heard during the U.K.'s summer of Brit-pop and as American radio programmers and MTV ignored the record. The band continued to tour as the opening act on R.E.M.'s prestigious Monster tour. By the end of the year, The Bends began to catch on, thanks not only to the band's constant touring but also to the stark, startling video for "Just." The album made many year-end best-of lists in the U.K., and early in 1996, the record reentered the British Top Ten and climbed to gold status in the U.S., helped in the latter by the video for "Fake Plastic Trees."

During the first half of 1996, Radiohead continued to tour before re-entering the studio that fall to record their third album, OK Computer, which was released in the summer of 1997. A devoted following of fans and a handful of enthusiastic critical supporters immediately embraced the album's majestic blend of unfettered prog rock, post-punk angst, eerie electronic textures, and assured songwriting. Since it skillfully teetered between rock classicism and futurism, it earned near-unanimous critical and popular support over the course of the year, which turned into unrestrained adoration in the final two years of the decade, even though its sales still hadn't climbed above gold status.

Expectations for Radiohead's fourth album were stratospheric, which placed additional pressure on the already perfectionist band, and led to several stumbling blocks along the way. An intense buzz of excitement among the band's still-growing following greeted the pre-release appearance of most of the album's tracks on the Internet in MP3 form; they displayed an all-out fascination with challenging, often minimalist electronica. Titled Kid A, the album was finally released in October 2000 and astonished many observers by debuting at number one on the U.S. album charts. While the band didn't release any singles or embark on a formal tour, the album met with a mixed critical response as the group was accused of creating a distant and radio-unfriendly record; however, it did remain a fan favorite.

In June of 2001, Radiohead quickly released an album under the name Amnesiac that consisted of material that was recorded during the Kid A sessions. The band made it very clear, though, that it was not to be considered an outtakes album; rather, they insisted that the two albums were of clear and separate concept. Regardless, Amnesiac debuted at number one in the U.K. and number two on the U.S. chart (behind then-stronghold Staind), while outselling Kid A in week one by 25,000 copies. The singles "Pyramid Song" and "Knives Out" were culled from Amnesiac with a subsequent world tour. While planning "I Might Be Wrong" for a third single, the idea expanded into a live "mini-album," titled after the track, that was released in November of 2001. Hail to the Thief, the proper follow-up to Amnesiac, was relatively direct in structure and peaked at number three on the U.S. chart. Sporadic recording sessions resumed in early 2005, but a projected release date for the band's seventh studio album remained 2007 as Yorke prepared a solo album, The Eraser, which was issued in July 2006.

On October 1, 2007, the bandmembers announced that they had finished their seventh album, In Rainbows, and that it would be "out" in a matter of ten days. Giving fans the option to pay whatever they'd like for the album as a zip file of MP3s, Radiohead also devised a pre-order system for the physical version of the album -- a "discbox" containing a double-vinyl version, a CD copy with an enhanced six-track bonus disc, a lyric book, and photos. This was done without the involvement of a record label. However, deals were eventually struck for standard retail releases. In late December, XL issued the album in the U.K., where it topped the album chart. The feat was repeated the following month in the U.S., where it was issued through the TBD label. Sonically and lyrically, In Rainbows was one of their warmest and most direct albums to date.

Radiohead took a somewhat similar approach for the release of The King of Limbs. On February 14, 2011, the band announced that the album would be issued in five days as a fixed-price download with physical releases to follow. Standard CD and vinyl versions were scheduled for late March via XL and TBD, while an elaborately packaged double 10" vinyl/CD set was scheduled for early May. The two-disc TKOL RMX 1234567 followed five months later, featuring 19 remixes of King of Limbs tracks from the likes of Jamie xx, Caribou, Four Tet, and Nathan Fake. The band also recorded a live set of songs from the album as part of the From the Basement video series, and subsequently released the set, titled King of Limbs: Live from the Basement, in 2012. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Andy Kellman, Rovi