Radiohead made their highly anticipated return to the stage on Tuesday night, November 4th, at Madrid’s Movistar Arena. After a seven-year break, their return also brought a wave of intriguing changes to the band’s gear setups, particularly among the guitarists.
Radiohead made changes
Ed O’Brien stood out with several notable shifts. His signature EOB Stratocaster was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he played his old Eric Clapton Stratocaster fitted with a Fernandes sustainer, along with a new white Strat sporting a black pickguard. He also swapped his long-favored red Gibson semi-hollow guitars, used since 1998, for a new black model.
Fans were thrilled to see the return of his Fernandes Native Pro during “Myxomatosis,” a guitar he hadn’t used on stage since 2012. And in a surprising move, O’Brien played a second six-string Rickenbacker, possibly Thom Yorke’s old Rick 330 for “Fake Plastic Trees.”
Thom Yorke’s setup remained mostly consistent with previous tours, though he made one subtle change — using a black Jazzmaster for “Bloom” instead of his usual white one with a tortoiseshell pickguard.
Jonny Greenwood also kept to his familiar rig, but fans quickly noticed the return of his long-lost Ebony Frost Telecaster. Stolen back in 1995 and recovered nearly two decades later in 2014, this marked its first live appearance since The Bends tour.
The highly anticipated show was the first of a 20-date tour, which will see the band play across the U.K. and Europe. It includes a four-night residency at London’s O2 Arena – with shows in Madrid, Bologna, Copenhagen and Berlin through November and December.
