If you haven’t heard, there’s been just a little bit of controversy over Radiohead closing out their tour this year in Tel Aviv, Israel — their first show in the country since 2000. The whole debacle really got going when Roger Waters and many more of the band’s peers signed a petition to get the band to cancel their show as part of a cultural boycott of Israel stemming from its treatment of Palestinians as part of the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement. Singer and front man Thom Yorke then issued not one, but two statements addressing the debate, in which he was none too happy about the heat Radiohead was getting.
Well, Radiohead finally performed that show in Tel Aviv, and as Stereogum points out, it was not only their longest show in 11 years but their second-longest concert ever. Yorke even addressed the controversy during the show, saying, “A lot of stuff has been said about this, but in the end, we play some music.†In total, the band performed 27 of their songs, which can either be taken as a screw you to critics or a thank-you to the Israeli fans who were crucial to the band’s early success.