At the end of September, there was a brief burst of excitement when Occupy Wall Street organizers announced that Radiohead would be playing a free concert in Zuccotti Park (just as soon as the Great Pumpkin rose up over Wall Street). Of course it was all a big lie, and the only New Yorkers who got to see Radiohead play in September were craven capitalists who paid top dollar to squeeze into Roseland Ballroom (for an unforgettable, intimate evening of rock and roll). But now, the Occupy movement has finally been graced with (one-fifth of) Radiohead's presence... in London. Here's video of Papa Thom dancing by a computer:
The Guardian reports that Yorke played a DJ set in the basement of an abandoned building owned by Swiss banking giant UBS, which Occupy London demonstrators seized three weeks go. The performance, for about 100 invited guests, was described as a "thank you" for the Occupy movement. Yorke was joined by 3D from Massive Attack, along with members of UNKLE.
The Radiohead frontman didn't make any comment on the band's website or to the press, but Occupy spokesman Ronan McNern told The Guardian, "Artists are doing this in solidarity with the Occupy movement. It's tremendous … and hopefully it will be the first of many concerts." The London group, which has called the occupation site "The Bank of Ideas," is currently fighting orders to vacate.
The Guardian also reports that "Yorke had had to cancel a previous gig for Occupy Wall Street in New York when the crowd grew too large for him to perform" but the band's New York reps insist neither Yorke nor anyone else from Radiohead ever intended to perform at Zuccotti Park. Whatever, we had Third Eye Blind.
