Radiohead call off their second Melbourne night on doctors' orders

Radiohead have cancelled tonight's show at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, the second of two there and the last date of their Australian tour, after a throat specialist found Thom Yorke's vocal cords badly inflamed. His voice lost much of its quality at the first Melbourne show last night, and a joint statement from the promoter, Michael Chugg Entertainment, and the band's management says he barely made it to the end. He apologised to the crowd and told them the band had thought about calling that night off as well.

A Melbourne ear, nose and throat specialist examined him this morning and found marked hoarseness, a significant upper airway infection and heavy inflammation of the vocal cords. It was advised that if Thom was to sing in the next few days it could cause irreparable damage to his voice.¹

The band have apologised and thanked their Australian fans, and say they are aware that people have travelled from all over the country for tonight's show and would like everybody to know that this decision was not taken lightly.¹ Ticket holders can get a refund where they bought their tickets; no new date has been set.

Michael Chugg told the radio station Triple J that Yorke is on antibiotics so that he can recover in time for Radiohead's set at the Coachella festival in California on Saturday, which for now is in doubt. The Australian dates and Coachella are the last of the touring for Hail to the Thief.

Last night's set ran to 21 songs and opened with “There There”. Where each of the two nights in Sydney on Friday and Saturday had two encores, Melbourne got one, of four songs. Yorke led into the closing “Everything in Its Right Place” alone at the piano with the opening line of “Fog”.

Setlist, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, 26 April 2004