"Don't stand there like a coward, come here and say it!": Video shows Thom Yorke challenging pro-Palestine heckler before walking offstage
· louderBy Fraser Lewry
( Prog )
published 31 October 2024
The incident happened as Thom Yorke approached the end of his Everything tour set in Melbourne, Australia
Footage of Thom Yorke challenging an apparent pro-Palestine protester during his recent set at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, Australia, has emerged online.
In the clip, the Radiohead frontman can be seen standing onstage as the heckler shouts at him. The audio is difficult to decipher, but the words "the Israeli genocide of Gaza" can be heard as well as “half of them were children,” presumably a reference to the death toll in Gaza.
“Come up and say that,” responds Yorke. "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. You want to piss on everybody's night? Come on!"
The protester responds by shouting, "How many dead children will it take for you to condemn the genocide in Gaza?"
"OK, you do," says Yorke. "See you later then.”
Yorke then puts his guitar down and abruptly leaves the stage, although he returned shortly after to play the final song of a three-song encore, a cover of Radiohead's Karma Police.
Radiohead have received criticism – most volubly from former Pink Floyd man Roger Waters – for playing shows in Israel, having visited the country four times to perform, most recently in 2017. Yorke responded in the wake of that visit, taking to Twitter to write, "Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing the government. We’ve played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments, some more liberal than others. As we have in America. We don’t endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America."
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More recently, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood performed in Tel Aviv with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa, and released a statement clarifying his position, tweeting, "No art is as 'important' as stopping all the death and suffering around us. How can it be? But doing nothing seems a worse option. And silencing Israeli artists for being born Jewish in Israel doesn't seem like any way to reach an understanding between the two sides of this apparently endless conflict."
Thom Yorke's Everything tour of the Pacific Rim continues this weekend with two shows in Sydney, followed by dates in Singapore and Japan.
Full schedule below.
Protester and Thom. Thom Yorke Solo Show. Melbourne 30th October 2024 #thomyorke - YouTube
Thom Yorke: Everything Tour 2025
Nov 01: Sydney Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Australia
Nov 02: Sydney Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Australia
Nov 05: The Star Theatre, Singapore
Nov 12: Osaka Grand Cube, Japan
Nov 13: Osaka Grand Cube, Japan
Nov 15: Tokyo Tachikawa Stage Garden, Japan
Nov 16: Tokyo Line Cube Shibuya, Japan
Nov 18: Fukuoka Sunplace, Japan
Nov 19: Hiroshima Hiroshima Bunka Gakuen HBG Hall, Japan
Nov 21: Nagoya Century Hall, Japan
Nov 23: Tokyo Tokyo Garden Theatre, Japan
Nov 24: Tokyo Tokyo Garden Theatre, Japan
Nov 26: Kyoto ROHM Theatre, Japan
Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.
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