This ought to bring a little more attention to the cause.
UPDATE: Tweets from Wall Street Journal and NY Times Metro are now saying that Radiohead’s spokesperson has announced the show is not happening. Check here and here for more.
Maybe this will silence the skeptics who dismiss the Occupy Wall Street protests as a handful of cooky eccentrics who aren’t drumming up any real attention: Radiohead will be playing a free show at Occupy Wall Street today at 4pm.
Gawker broke the news of a rumor of a show this morning, and the group’s official site OccupyWallStreet.org confirmed Radiohead’s appearance and the time earlier this afternoon.
Radiohead has an activist history: in making one of the post-”Kid A” records Thom Yorke apparently became so distraught about the dangers of climate change that he was stricken with panic attacks and unable to leave the house for days at a time. Since then the band has kept their airline travel to a minimum to reduce their carbon footprint, and Thom Yorke has played shows to support progressive causes before, such as a solo show to support the premiere of Franny Armstrong’s post-apocalyptic climate thriller “The Age of Stupid.”
Occupy Wall Street has drawn support from celebrities like Roseanne Barr and Susan Sarandon, but having Radiohead show up and play a free show not only raises the event’s profile — it should also draw considerably greater crowds into the street.
Check OccupyWallStreet.org for details.
September 30, 2011 at 6:08 pm, Anonymous said:
“I am paralyzed by fear!” Either a douchebag, coward, or both. Enjoy your Michael Moore co-opted event. Does this mean they are going to quit obeying the “no PA system” rule? It will get very tiresome if Radiohead uses the crowd to “call and response” their song lyrics. I was incredibly embarassed for everyone involved to hear them drone and repeat Michael Moore’s speech, because Michael is too big of a coward to use a bullhorn.