UPDATE (9/30): A full 20 odd minutes or so after everyone was confirming this show, we have this Tweet from Time Out NY:
Okay all, we just got official news from Radiohead PR that the show is officially not happening.
Here's the full story from the Wall Street Journal:
It appears that Radiohead will not be headed to Wall Street on Friday afternoon to perform for the protesters who have occupied Zuccotti Park for the past two weeks.The band’s representatives said in an email that there will be no show in support of the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators. “We can officially confirm this is NOT happening,” wrote Steve Martin of Nasty Little Man, the firm that represents Radiohead.Rumors of a Radiohead appearance swirled around the Internet and Twitter earlier Friday, capped by an email from a spokesperson for the loosely organized protest movement shortly after midday announcing what he termed a “show in solidarity” at 4 p.m. Friday.The band, known for its left-of-center political outlook, has been in New York for performances on “Saturday Night Live” and a sold-out show at the Roseland Ballroom. Jim Fusilli, the Journal’s rock critic, reviewed that concert for WSJ’s Speakeasy blog.The British rock band may not be coming out to perform in support of the protesters, but other high-profile supporters have come out in the support of the Wall Street protest movement. A group of New York City’s biggest labor unions — including the main unions for city teachers and transit workers, as well as two sections of the powerful Service Employees International Union — said they planned to actively participate in the demonstrations beginning next week. News of the nascent alliance between the unions and the protesters was first reported in Crain’s and the Village Voice.While a free performance by Radiohead would have drawn huge crowds to Zuccotti Park, the site of the Wall Street protest, participation by New York’s biggest labor unions could transform the grassroots movement in ways that much longer than a rock show. All of the unions have organizational experience and financial resources that the largely leaderless Wall Street protesters so far have lacked.
Wow. Wow. Wow. This is going to be complete chaos. But the rumors are true, Radiohead will indeed be playing a last minute show announced today at 4 pm. More info below c/o Gothamist:
[UPDATE BELOW] Gawker is peddling a juicy rumor that is so far unsubstantiated, but nevertheless: Radiohead is playing downtown for the Occupy Wall Street protest this afternoon, a source tells Adrien Chen. It looks like the band has been following Gothamist staffer Christopher Robbins's Twitter feed!We do know the band is still in the area—they're sticking around to play Jimmy Fallon's show Monday night, and there's heavy speculation some Radiohead members will surface at All Tomorrow's Parties over the weekend. So it's quite conceivable that down-on-the-Man frontman Thom Yorke would swing by Occupy Wall Street. Or maybe the whole band will drive by Zuccotti Park on a vegetable oil-fueled flatbed truck, a la Foo Fighters?Neither the band's management nor a spokesman for the protesters has responded to our inquiries, but for what it's worth, today's Occupy Wall Street agenda, sent out to the press last night, includes a "protesting police harassment" rally/march at 4 p.m.—which is when Gawker hears that Radiohead will do...something. (Another website claims the rumor has been "unofficially confirmed.") The entire Gothamist office is currently gripped by bitter infighting over who gets cut out early to cover this, but we'll update once somebody yours truly comes out on top. What would YOU do for tickets to this???UPDATE 12:19 p.m.: A spokesperson for Occupy Wall Street confirms "Radiohead will play a surprise show today at four in the afternoon. Press conference at one in the afternoon."
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