In the midst of Radiohead’s massive summer tour and following the release of the band’s critically hailed ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool, frontman Thom Yorke has been acting quirky as usual.
Despite his world-famous band’s heavy schedule (and instantly sold-out stadium shows), the singer took some time to attend a neighbor’s garden party this weekend, presumably held in honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday, where he played a coveted solo acoustic set for an elderly array of attendees.
The news of Yorke’s surprise performance first hit the web via Reddit, where one user reported that his dad sent him a text saying that he was, “in Oxford at [a] garden party with Suzie’s neighbours, about to hear entertainment from neighbour Tom York of Radiohead!”
The user, a big fan, then hounded his father for a photo and setlist from the show, for which his father obliged. Yorke reportedly played for around 30 minutes, singing Desert Island Disk, No Surprises, Street Spirit, Reckoner, and I Might Be Wrong while playing a classical guitar.
A short clip of the singer’s casual performance made it onto YouTube after the party was over, in which the famed musician can be see joking with a young audience member to go and get his drum kit and join in, while sipping some sort of beverage from a tulip glass. Yorke then begins his rendition of Reckoner before the video ends.
Thom Yorke played an Oxford Garden Party for the Queens 90th. Those old snobs have no clue how lucky they are. pic.twitter.com/yYYM7oC4uQ
— Ciaran (@POGKMF) June 12, 2016
An enigmatic musician who could easily sell out a string of solo acoustic shows in seconds if they were formally announced, The Radiohead singer has played random gigs to small audiences in the past, including various impromptu DJ sets over the last several years. But this is the first solo acoustic garden party he seems to have performed at, or at least the first one that we know of.
Radiohead will continue their scheduled tour dates throughout the rest of this summer and fall, playing their last scheduled show at the Austin City Limits Festival in early October of this year. Who knows, if you live in Austin and you’re lucky, maybe you’ll end up at a backyard barbecue with some special Yorke-sung surprises.
