Radiohead announce long run of 2027 residency shows in Australia and Japan

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Radiohead have confirmed a fresh block of concert dates for 2027, taking the band to Australia and Japan in a residency-style run rather than a conventional touring schedule. The announcement, made on 7 September, follows months of speculation about where the group might play after their return to live performance in the UK and Europe the previous year. Rather than a single show per city, the band will settle in for multiple consecutive nights in each location, echoing the format of their 2025 comeback dates. Coverage varies on how the total is framed: some reports describe the run as 21 shows in all, while others describe a 16-date Australian leg treated separately from the five Japanese dates that follow, though the underlying schedule is the same.

The tour opens in Perth with four nights at RAC Arena from 3 May, before the band moves on to Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne for six shows in mid-to-late May. A further six nights follow at Sydney's Afterpay Arena, taking the Australian leg through to 1 June. The band then travels to Japan for five performances at GMO Arena Saitama between 8 and 13 June. Tickets are not being sold in a standard on-sale but through a registration scheme intended to limit the involvement of bots and resellers; accounts differ slightly on the finer print, with one outlet describing a window for Australian fans to register from 7 to 10 September ahead of a notification stage and a sale beginning 15 September, while Japanese fans face a longer registration period running into late September with confirmation expected in October. Reporting also varies on ancillary details, such as a per-ticket charitable contribution mentioned in connection with the Australian shows and a stated cap on how many tickets each registrant may buy.

The new dates build on Radiohead's return to the stage in 2025, their first live performances together in several years following a gap that had stretched back to 2018, during which members of the band worked on solo and side projects. That comeback took the form of a run of arena shows across the UK and continental Europe, including multiple nights at London's O2, and was widely described as an emotionally intense set of performances. Guitarist Ed O'Brien had earlier set out the band's thinking on future touring, saying the group intended to visit a different continent each year with a fixed run of twenty shows and no more, a stance he later softened somewhat, cautioning fans not to take the figure too literally while still suggesting the band was unlikely to exceed that number. He has linked the self-imposed limit to the physical and emotional toll of performing the material night after night, as well as a wish to avoid touring on autopilot.

Beyond the logistics, outlets place different emphasis on what the run signifies. Some highlight it as Radiohead's first visit to Australia in around fifteen years, while others focus more on the band's broader standing — their commercial breakthrough in the 1990s, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a run of chart-topping albums — as context for the demand these shows are expected to generate. There is also mention of proceeds from the 2025 European dates supporting live-music and humanitarian causes, and of the new shows carrying their own charitable ties. A few reports note unconfirmed speculation, fuelled by the band's appearance at a Japanese festival earlier in the year, that further Asian dates could yet follow, though nothing beyond the Saitama shows has been confirmed. O'Brien has also downplayed talk of new studio material, suggesting no such plans are currently in place.

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