Radiohead rebuffs Palestine protester
NewsFrom the BBC’s Sydney reporter:
Radiohead singer Thom Yorke briefly walked off stage during his Australian solo tour after an exchange with an audience member who heckled him with a protest about deaths in Gaza.
Videos posted online by concert-goers at the Melbourne show on Wednesday show a man in the crowd shouting at Yorke. While not all of his words can be heard, he calls on the singer to “condemn the Israeli genocide of Gaza”.
Yorke responds by telling the heckler to “hop up on stage” to make his remarks.
“Don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it. You want to piss on everybody’s night? Ok you do it, see you later,” Yorke continues, before removing his guitar and halting his set.
Read on here.
Lead singer of @thomyorke calls out a pro-Hamas heckler in Melbourne, Australia.@radiohead has rejected the hateful boycott movement against Israel three times.
Thank you, Thom, for your bravery. pic.twitter.com/iDRJua2jeW
— Creative Community for Peace (@CCFPeace) October 30, 2024
Floyd Mayweather Jr has been in Israel this week.
Mr. Yorke was quick to recognize there’s no reason to mass debate with such types.
What was he performing that night? Mahler or Beethoven?
Based on the large size of the audience, I’d say neither.
You guys may mock them, but both Yorke and Greenwood have become recognized composers in their own right, and Radiohead’s music is as compelling as both mentioned above.
Yorke is a man of integrity.
There’s a very good article about this by Brendan O’Neill in The Spectator.
I thought I was on Pitchfork for a second. Perhaps Yorke’s work as a composer has earned him a place here? I’m a huge fan of Radiohead, but never thought I’d see them on Slippedisc news!