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Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood has said the band are taking a “busking approach” to their setlists. Greenwood recently appeared on the Adam Buxton Podcast and said the list was narrowed down to around 70 songs. They’ll play any of those in any order, at any gig.

He and his brother, guitarist Jonny Greenwood, are not allowed on the “setlist committee” because they’re too indecisive.

The limited tour

The current tour is far from Radiohead’s most extensive. They played four dates in Madrid, four in Bologna, and four in London. In December, Radiohead will play four dates in each of Copenhagen and Berlin, wrapping things up on 12th December.

In summer 2024, the band reconvened to rehearse old songs after not releasing an album since 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool. They last toured in 2018. In the September following those summer rehearsals last year, Colin Greenwood said the band were still talking regularly, but needed to make a plan to get together. He said he wasn’t very good at planning because he was too busy messing around in the studio.

Each bandmate was busy with different projects, with Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke playing together in The Smile. That band has released three albums since 2022.

Colin appeared on Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Wild God in 2024 and joined the band on their following tour, with regular bassist Martyn Casey unable to travel.

Keeping things fresh

When a band has been around for decades, there’s always a risk that their live shows become stale or predictable. The term “legacy act” has become familiar to fans in recent years, with bands like The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and even Red Hot Chili Peppers (relative newcomers with most members in their sixties) playing generally predictable setlists.

Legendary acts usually lean on their biggest hits – the songs fans expect, and have often paid huge ticket fees for – but stagnation can set in. Radiohead’s busking‑style approach is one way to counteract that by reintroducing some variety and spontaneity.

The challenge to keep things fresh isn’t unique to music. Other industries face similar issues when revisiting past works. Think of film and game franchises: remakes, sequels, and prequels are always refreshing familiar stories. The popular modern philosopher Paul Skallas often talks of a “stuck culture”, with superhero films a particular culprit. In 2025 alone, Superman, Eyes of Wakanda, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Captain America: Brave New World, Peacemaker, and several other films and TV series showed how storylines are constantly revisited and continued. But that’s not to say fresh takes on familiar stories are merely derivative. The Dark Knight (2008), for example, is one of the most critically acclaimed films of this century. In gaming, leading and chart-topping titles are remade and remastered. Even timeless games like bingo are constantly reinvented: variations keep the familiar format engaging for new, online players. Online play has made casino games more social and fast-paced, with apps and websites offering “challenge a friend” features and streamlined versions of the classic games.

Just as films and games reinvent themselves, Radiohead seem keen on keeping their shows alive and unpredictable rather than falling back on a greatest hits formula.

Will there be any new music on this Radiohead tour?

Colin Greenwood said it will be the first time that Radiohead have played shows where they haven’t got new songs to play as work in progress. But, he said, “some stuff might come up”, perhaps implying they might write new music.

The period between A Moon Shaped Pool and now (eight years) is the band’s longest time between album releases.