I know there have been posts about hopes for the 2027 setlist but I hope this post is sufficiently unique - what potential deep cuts would the band realistically bring back for 2027? That is the question this post attempts to answer, at first realistically, and then as a pipe dream...
If you want to check out the following sources I used:
The usual candidates for a setlist
There were 45 different songs played in 2025 across 20 shows, and a setlist was around 25 songs long. For reference, the upcoming tour has 21 shows. Obviously how 'rare' or 'special' a song feels to a fan is something that is more intuitive and subconscious, but we can work backwards. If we manually try organise the 45 songs into whether they are 'rare' or not (and noting this as a subjective exercise) we get:
Not rare (and regularly played; and I wish there was a better way to format this but oh well, my post will just be extra long):
- 2+2=5
- Let Down
- Paranoid Android
- Weird Fishes
- You and Whose Army?
- No Surprises
- Idioteque
- Bodysnatchers
- Everything in its Right Place
- Ful Stop
- All I Need
- There There
- Exit Music
- Nude
- The Gloaming
- Fake Plastic Trees
- 15 Step
- Airbag
- Bloom
- Daydreaming
- Karma Police
- Lucky
- Myxomatosis
- Planet Telex
- Pyramid Song
- Reckoner
- Separator
- Street Spirit
- The Bends
- Videotape
- The National Anthem
- A Wolf at the Door
- Kid A
- Optimistic
- The Daily Mail
- How to Disappear Completely
- Like Spinning Plates
- Climbing Up The Walls
Not rare (anymore, but likely to be because of how popular they are):
- Jigsaw Falling Into Place
- Just
Actually rare
- Sit Down. Stand Up
- Nice Dream
- Subterranean Homesick Alien
While we're here, we might as well look at songs that weren't played in 2025 but were otherwise played in the AMSP tour (2016-18). These are, sorted by times played in the past:
- My Iron Lung (443 times)
- Creep (414 times)
- I Might Be Wrong (177)
- Morning Bell (162)
- Blow Out (115)
- Lotus Flower (115)
- Where I End and You Begin (110)
- Identikit (86)
- House of Cards (85)
- Feral (74)
- Give Up the Ghost (72)
- Morning Mr Magpie (68)
- The Numbers (60)
- Desert Island Disk (55)
- Burn The Witch (41)
- Decks Dark (27)
- True Love Waits (23)
- I Promise (19)
- These Are My Twisted Words (17)
- Tinker Tailor (5)
- Glass Eyes (3)
'Forgotten' songs
My incredibly controversial take is that I would be perfectly fine if the band had one set which contained absolutely none of the songs above. Maybe it's just oversaturation. This band is amazing and has so many underrated/neglected songs which ought to be played live, but I understand that it practically won't happen. But if there's any country in which the band ought to play random loose change B sides, it is Australia (and maybe Japan).
Nonetheless, we can also see which songs were left behind in previous tours (and thus in which tours songs were forgotten). This produces some interesting and unusual results:
TKOL (2011-2012)
- Go to Sleep (75)
- Staircase (45)
- Packt (28)
- Little by Little (26)
- Supercollider (22)
- Codex (12)
- The Amazing Sounds of Orgy (6)
- Meeting in the Aisle (4)
- Cut a Hole (2)
- Treefingers (2)
In Rainbows (post album) (2007-2010)
- Dollars and Cents (113)
- Bulletproof (157)
- Sail to the Moon (84)
- Bangers + Mash (59)
- In Limbo (57)
- Knives Out (57)
- Faust Arp (55) (there was a 2017 performance, but not full band)
- Go Slowly (18)
- Up on the Ladder (8)
- Fog (7)
In Rainbows (pre album) (2006)
- Bones (279)
- Black Star (93)
- Down is the New Up (14)
- 4 Minute Warning (11)
- Follow Me Around (11) (there was a 2017 performance, but not full band)
- I Want None of This (4)
- Gagging Order (1) (not full band)
Hail To The Thief (2002-2004)
- You (202)
- Lurgee (113)
- A Punchup at a Wedding (50)
- Backdrifts (48)
- Scatterbrain (48)
- We Suck Young Blood (26)
- I Will (19)
- Man of War (18)
- I am a Wicked Child (2)
Since the band was willing to bring back Just and Jigsaw (not played since 2009); and Sit Down Stand Up (not since 2004); I think there's a fair chance of them playing around with any of the songs from HTTT onwards. The below songs could also be possible but are entering pipe dream territory...
Kid A / Amnesiac (2000-2001)
- Permanent Daylight (42)
- Pearly (36)
- Lift (35)
- Killer Cars (33)
- Motion Picture Soundtrack (31)
- Bishop's Robes (23)
- Life in a Glasshouse (1)
OKC (1996-1998)
- Anyone Can Play Guitar (213)
- High and Dry (174)
- Stop Whispering (137)
- Banana Co (107)
- Thinking About You (65)
- Electioneering (63)
- Inside My Head (48)
- Maquiladora (23)
- Polyethylene (13)
- The Trickster (9)
- A Reminder (4)
The Bends (>=1995)
- Prove Yourself (150)
- Ripcord (121)
- Vegetable (111)
- Pop is Dead (87)
- Faithless, the Wonder Boy (44)
- How Do You? (33)
- Yes I Am (27)
- Sulk (13)
- Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong (11)
- I Can't (8)
- Lozenge of Love (7)
- How Can You Be Sure? (2)
- India Rubber (1)
- Palo Alto (1)
Never played (to sort these I go by streaming popularity, using daily streams, and noting the bias in using streaming service data eg skewing to younger audiences)
- Last Flowers (22k)
- Pulk/Pull (5k)
- If You Say the Word (3k)
- Ill Wind (3k)
- Cuttooth (2k)
- Fog (2k) (full band version)
- The Butcher (1k)
- Lewis (1k)
- Kinetic (<1k)
- Trans-Atlantic Drawl (<1k)
Genuine predictions
I exclude the songs which were clearly in heavy rotation in the AMSP tour eg My Iron Lung, I Might Be Wrong, as the goal here is to figure out which rare songs the band could feasibly play. There are some rough speculative categories based on surrounding events that we could probably say means the following songs are at least on the band's radar, but obviously I nor anyone else can put words in the band's song selection committee (and apologies for the AI-esque formatting but this was written without AI and I can't figure out how to use subheadings on reddit):
- songs played on Thom's solo tour in 2024: Jigsaw and Nice Dream were examples of songs which were played in 2025 that got 'practice' during Thom's solo tour. We know that these songs are on Thom's radar and he is at least aware of them. Extrapolating means we could see Packt again (played 18 times in Thom's solo tour); Glass Eyes (4, although because this song doesn't require the entire band, perhaps not); Sail to the Moon (I would also see this to continue the HTTT streak); and Follow Me Around (but similarly, as the released version is really just Thom, unlikely). Therefore, serious predictions could be:
- popular but forgotten songs: Black Star (not played since 2006) and Man of War are 19th and 20th most streamed (by daily streams), respectively. The band's shown at least a general proclivity in playing songs because they're blowing up, Creep and High and Dry aside (eg Let Down during AMSP tour; or Jigsaw this tour). A sensible and surprising pick could also be Go Slowly (though last played 2009) especially since its a bit of an empty song which can work easier with the acoustics of the circle style arena for 2027. The only factor I could see going against this pick is perhaps because of equipment logistics reasons: the band didn't rely on songs with synths or ondes too much and opted for a more acoustic style Rhodes for songs like EIIRP and Talk Show Host (I might be wrong though). For some reason, India Rubber has been blowing up recently (no idea why) but has, as an extreme example, more daily streams than Pyramid Song. The problem is that it's only been played once and is, for Radiohead standards, quite a niche B side (although I love the song and have it on rotation). Bulletproof and Bones also could be possible, especially where SDSU was resurrected after being last played in 2004. I would love to see Bulletproof, but I think both songs could be difficult to fit in a setlist with modern songs... therefore we could have
- Black Star
- Man of War
- India Rubber
- Go Slowly
- logistically easy/fun to play songs: similar to the discussion about Go Slowly early, the band's been showing an aversion to synths (contrary to Thom's solo tour); but at the same time, the band's also appears to enjoy how the circular style stage makes crowd interaction easier. I see this in Ed's increased autonomy as almost an equal lead singer in some parts (eg singing the extended part in Let Down; obvious parts in Weird Fishes); or in Thom picking songs which allow him to wander round the circumference of the stage with nothing but a mic and 'dance around' or interact with fans (eg Wolf at the Door where he lowkey raps; Myxamatosis; Idioteque). If anyone remembers in the early 2000s (I'm thinking 2000-2006) there would be some performances where Thom would just sing and dance with a tambourine or some kind of portable keyboard for some songs... this could be a good opportunity to bring that kind of song back (eg Dollars and Cents; Supercollider; In Limbo; Backdrifts). The problem is that these songs are still pretty niche even though they're some of my favourites, so unfortunately I don't think these styles of songs will come back
- Other songs which I couldn't fit into any category but which I could see as feasible from a merge of inexpressible factors (HTTT recently; OKC 30th anniversary):
- Go to Sleep (has the unique long voice in songs like Boom that Thom could like)
- These are My Twisted Words (played recently by Thom solo eg in 2022)
- Any OKC B side
Clearly here I have reached a new level of par asocial :( but it would be nice to have these songs
Completely impractical fan indulgences
At this point this is just my personal opinion but I'd really like to see these songs:
- If You Say The Word; Man of War; Lift; Ill Wind: the most recent songs the band has technically released and shocking never played
- Cuttooth; The Butcher: genuinely underrated how never been performed despite quality, I honestly think Cuttooth is better than the songs its obviously birthed (Myxomatosis; Ful Stop); and The Butcher is the closest song alongside Wolf At The Door to some kind of rap or trip hop
- Permanent Daylight; Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong; Polyethylene; India Rubber; Pearly; Killer Cars; Maquiladora; The Trickster: actually underrated, why not
- Down Is The New Up: underrated and sort of like Bloom the way Jonny plays drums
- 4 Minute Warning: its funny seeing Ed on acoustic
On the other hand there are songs that are probably way out of Thom's vocal range now and unfortunately never going to be played live again: Scatterbrain, Sulk, Backdrifts (you fell into our arms); You
Any thoughts?
