So many fans of alt-rock royalty Radiohead have been left in a state of limbo in the last few years, the band on hiatus with minimal hints regarding their future direction and the status of their long-rumoured ninth studio album still very much up in the air. Those same fans can celebrate today, with Radiohead concrete confirmed to be playing live once again in 2016.
The band were announced earlier this morning as headliners for Swiss festival OpenAir St. Gallen, which will run from the 30th of June to the 3rd of July this year. Shortly after that major announcement it was confirmed that Radiohead would also be headlining the Primavera Sound Music Festival in Barcelona as well as the NOS Alive Festival in Lisbon, both taking place in the first week of July.
That’s apparently only the beginning, with sources close to the band suggesting the announcement of a North American tour isn’t far away.
The last time anyone saw Radiohead live on a stage was back in November 2012 when they wrapped up their touring in support of their most recent album, The King Of Limbs. Since then they’ve been on hiatus, with frontman Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood releasing solo work amidst whispers the band had begun working on their next album as early as 2014.
No official word yet but it would seem that these upcoming shows will be part of the promotion for this as-yet-untitled album, the band formed the company ‘Dawn Chorus LLP’ in October of last year, a business move similar to the months preceding their previous two studio albums. They made news most recently for having their submission for the latest Bond theme rejected in favour of Sam Smith because reasons. Smith proceeded to pull the frontrunning face palm of the year shortly after.
We’re not the speculatory type by any means, but the dates announced for this year’s edition of Splendour In The Grass definitely don’t clash with any of the dates announced for Radiohead festival appearances so far this year… We’ll keep you posted.
Image from Mellow Music Scene