Radiohead skip the Twin Cities again: What will it take for them to play here?

Photo by Kevin Westenberg

​Earlier today, Radiohead announced the first batch of live dates for their 2012 U.S. tour, once again skipping the Twin Cities as they have every year since 1997. While the band are expected to announce further tour dates in the future, you have to wonder what exactly it's going to take to get Radiohead to perform here again.


While we don't boast a large outdoor amphitheater here in the Twin Cities area (the type of venue that Radiohead has preferred to play in the past), the recent redesign of the Somerset Amphitheater just over the Wisconsin border would be a very promising site for the band. However, if they were to play a show in Wisconsin, why wouldn't they simply choose to play the more familiar Alpine Valley, like they did in 2003? And if they did play Somerset, that technically wouldn't mean it was a Twin Cities performance anyway, completely defeating the purpose of getting the band to play a local show.

U2 were able to christen the TCF Bank Stadium in July, a venue which would seem to be a decent fit for Radiohead (if even a little large for them). But the dates that have already been announced are in February and March (when they play in Kansas City, the closest date on the tour), and no one is going to schedule an outdoor show here anywhere remotely close to the winter months.

​When it comes right down to it, the performance will most certainly have to be indoors (like the rest of the dates on Radiohead's current tour), in one of two obvious places. So, what would it take for the Xcel Energy Center or (shudder) the Target Center to land a performance by one of the world's biggest bands? The fan interest is certainly there, and the band has played some truly memorable shows in Minneapolis at both First Avenue and the State Theatre, so they know we are passionate about their music here.

But, for reasons that are anyone's guess, the band has decided to consistently pass over the Twin Cities area year after year, in favor of a combination of large festivals and larger cities, with occasional teasing visits to smaller music markets just to irritate us. So, I'm taking a stand for all of us fans and going to do the only thing I really can to get Radiohead to play here: ask nicely and beg.

Please, Radiohead, please come back to the Twin Cities. It's been far too long, and quite frankly we've missed you and your sullen, transfixing songs.

Now we will just have to wait and see if that works. Fingers crossed.

Radiohead's 2012 U.S. Tour Dates 

02-27 Miami, FL - American Airlines Arena
02-29 Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times Forum
03-01 Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
03-03 Houston, TX - Toyota Center
03-05 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
03-07 Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center
03-09 St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
03-11 Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
03-13 Broomfield, CO - 1st Bank Center
03-15 Glendale, AZ - Jobing.com Arena