Gaza protest in Melbourne: Radiohead singer Thom Yorke confronts concert disruptors

Thom Yorke, frontman of the British rock band Radiohead, confronted a heckler at a solo concert in Melbourne, Australia – and then angrily left the stage. At the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, the viewer loudly criticized Yorke for not taking a public position on the Gaza conflict. The singer (56) then asked the man not to hide like a “coward” and to speak out publicly on stage.

“Come on the damn stage and say what you have to say,” the visibly annoyed artist shouted into the audience. “Do you want to ruin everyone’s evening?” But when the troublemaker didn’t come and instead continued to shout, Yorke put down his guitar. “Ok, just do it, see you later,” he explained and left the stage to disappointed shouts from the fans.

A few minutes later, Yorke returned and played his last song of the evening: “Karma Police” by Radiohead, to the cheers of the audience. A video of the incident went viral on the internet.

Previously criticized for performances in Israel

After two performances in Melbourne, Yorke plays two concerts in front of the Sydney Opera House from Friday. Then we continue to Singapore and Japan.

The rock band Radiohead, founded in Oxford in 1985, is known for social and political lyrics. Among other things, Yorke has already taken a stand on Tibet’s political struggle against China and played concerts at which the Tibetan flag hung over his piano.

The band has already had to defend performances in Israel in the past. In 2017, following public criticism, Yorke wrote in a tweet: “Playing in a country is not the same as supporting its government.” He added: “We don’t support (Israeli Prime Minister) Netanyahu any more than we support Trump, but we’re still playing in America.”