Thom Yorke Clashes With Protester During Melbourne Gig

Thom Yorke clashed with a protester during his solo show at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl last night (30 October), with the Radiohead and The Smile frontman daring the protester to “come here and say it.”

The incident occurred as Yorke introduced the final song of the night on his Everything Tour. As he was about to launch into the last song, a protester interrupted and started yelling at Yorke from the stalls.

From what I could make out from my seats, all I heard was “Gaza” and “children.” Posts on Reddit indicate that the protester was talking about Palestine and the ongoing war in Gaza and wanted Yorke to condemn Israel for its actions in the war.

Yorke paused the set, listened to the protester, and responded: “Come up and say that. Right here. Come up on the fucking stage and say what you want to say. But don’t stand there like a coward; come here and say it. Come on.”

He continued, “You want to piss on everybody’s night? Come on. OK, you do. See you later then.”

Yorke then left the stage and returned after a few minutes of the crowd chanting, “We want Thom.” He closed the show with an acoustic rendition of Karma Police that inspired a singalong.

You can watch footage of the moment below.

As NME reports, Thom Yorke hasn’t publicly made any statements about the ongoing war in Gaza. In 2017, Radiohead were on the receiving end of criticism from the BDS movement (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction) when they played a show in Tel Aviv, with artists including Roger Waters and Young Fathers urging them to cancel the show in support of Palestine.

Yorke responded to the calls for Radiohead to boycott performing in Israel, saying: “Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government. We don’t endorse [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu any more than [Donald] Trump.”

Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien called for a ceasefire in Gaza in January.

Reviewing Yorke’s first show in Melbourne on Tuesday (29 October), The Music’s Christopher Lewis said: “And whilst the tour was called Everything, it could have easily been called Extremes as he took pleasure in juxtaposing the ends of his musical interests.

“A delicate, haunting rendition of Reckoner was immediately followed by Back In The Game, a song that could easily feature in a DJ Hell set and possibly the most abrasive techno Sidney Myer Music Bowl has witnessed since the last Kiss My Grass festival.”

At the end of the review, Lewis commented that fans attending the shows should “Just trust the process and enjoy the master at work.”