Radiohead end their Brazil dates in São Paulo with “Fake Plastic Trees”

Radiohead closed the Brazilian run of the Soundhearts festival at Allianz Parque in São Paulo on Sunday 22 April. The moment of the night came with “Exit Music (For a Film)” at the start of the encores. People on the floor and in the seats held up their phones with the lights on until the whole stadium was lit. Stephanie Hahne, reviewing for the Brazilian site Tenho Mais Discos Que Amigos, saw Thom Yorke and Ed O'Brien thank the crowd, looking moved. It was the band's first São Paulo show in nine years. Tickets had been discounted a few weeks before and the night did not sell out, but the stadium was full.

The day began at about four with Aldo, the Band, a São Paulo group, playing to a thin early crowd. Junun, Jonny Greenwood's project with Shye Ben Tzur and the Rajasthan Express, played in daylight. Flying Lotus played inside a cage of video screens and paid tribute to Avicii, who had died on Friday.

Radiohead came on a few minutes late and opened with “Daydreaming”. Yorke danced, bowed and thanked the audience all night, and the set leaned on A Moon Shaped Pool and In Rainbows, with most of the hits coming from OK Computer. During “Idioteque” the screens at the sides of the stage went dark and stayed that way for about four songs.

There was no “Karma Police” and no “Creep”, and the last song was “Fake Plastic Trees”. Rio had the acoustic “True Love Waits” two nights earlier; São Paulo got “There There” and “My Iron Lung” instead. Hahne says people left with their eyes swollen from crying, and she counts that a good sign.

Setlist, Allianz Parque, São Paulo, 22 April 2018