Will Radiohead play ‘Creep’ on their forthcoming tour?
Evoking complicated feelings for music lovers everywhere, Radiohead announced recently that they will be reuniting for a string of shows around Europe.
The band aren’t travelling a whole lot during their reunion tour. They will be going to five different countries, only playing one city in each. Fans who are willing to travel to Madrid, Bologna, Copenhagen, Berlin and London will all have the chance to see Radiohead live as the band is set to play their first gigs since 2018.
A lot of fans weren’t too surprised by the announcement, as Colin Greenwood confirmed last year that the band had been rehearsing, sparking excitement about a potential reunion. “You know, we did some rehearsals about two months ago in London, just to play the old songs,” said Greenwood in September 2024. “And it was really fun; we had a really good time.”
In a recent message to fans confirming that the reunion was underway, Philip Selway said that it was these rehearsals that inspired the band to get back together for some shows. “Last year, we got together to rehearse, just for the hell of it,” he said. “After a seven-year pause, it felt really good to play the songs again and reconnect with a musical identity that has become lodged deep inside all five of us.”
Selway continued, “It also made us want to play some shows together, so we hope you can make it to one of the upcoming dates. For now, it will just be these ones, but who knows where this will all lead.”
Well, there you have it; the band is reuniting because rehearsing together after years taught them how much they missed teaming up for their signature melodies with renewed ardour. It begs the question, what are those songs that they rehearsed? And will the band overcome their persistent feud with their classic track ‘Creep’ enough to pop it in the setlist every now and then? Let’s dig deeper.
Why did Radiohead stop playing ‘Creep’ live?
Every band, when writing songs, is hoping that their music connects with listeners and becomes popular because of said connection. A lot of these bands end up having hits, and realise in the ensuing success that a hit song can be a hindrance as well as a help. This is what happened to Radiohead when their track ‘Creep’ became loved around the world. It felt as though the rest of their musical catalogue was rendered unimportant, as large majorities of their crowds were only there to see one song.
“We seemed to be living out the same four and a half minutes of our lives over and over again,” said Johnny Greenwood when discussing the track and the band’s eventual disdain towards it, adding, “It was incredibly stultifying”. It was these circumstances that caused Radiohead to retire the song from live performances.
A lot of fans might have ruled out the idea of the band playing ‘Creep’ already, but I wouldn’t be so sure. Radiohead didn’t want to be defined by one track, and since stopping playing that song live, they certainly defied odds. They’ve released plenty of work which is celebrated in the musical world as timeless. Now, as they reunite without any new music or projects to promote, they may well opt to dig into the vaults and play ‘Creep’.
So, will Radiohead play ‘Creep’ on their upcoming tour?
The truth is, we don’t know, but we can hazard a good guess. Given the band has managed to shake off the shackles of ‘Creep’ and is now celebrated for a mix of music rather than just the one song, they may be a lot more willing to embrace their original hit single.
When asked about a potential setlist, Colin Greenwood said that they’d condensed their catalogue down to a few different numbers. “Oh, I think it’s going to be a mix set,” he said. “I think we’ve like whittled it down to about 70 songs. And me and my brother are not on the setlist committee, we’re not allowed, because we’re too indecisive.”
70 Radiohead songs in the pipeline? The band would be hard-pressed to not have ‘Creep’ be one of those belters, but only time will tell. As Greenwood concluded, “So we’ll play anything in any order, at any time. We sort of take a busking attitude to the Radiohead setlist.”
