Thom Yorke found American crowds against Bush, except in Houston

Thom Yorke, back in Britain for the arena tour, tells NME.COM that Radiohead were worried about touring America this autumn, after his public stand against the war and an album title, Hail to the Thief, that many read as a dig at President George W. Bush. We were sort of worried about the reaction to what we had been saying when we went over there.¹

Colin Greenwood, whose wife is American, never saw a problem. It turned out that he was right, when you met people face to face the resistance, disgust and dismay was obvious.¹

Some older songs took on new meanings, Yorke says. The line in “No Surprises” about bringing down a government that doesn't speak for us drew a huge cheer every night. The Houston show was on 1 October, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, outside the city, and “No Surprises” was in the set. Although in Houston, Texas it was a little err…muted shall we say.¹