Thom Yorke Live in Sydney Concert Film Review & Interview with Dave May

It’s the end of night two in Sydney. Thom Yorke has just left the stage. The lights come up, the crowd fractures and disperses. Down the front, we’re in a state of shock. We turn to each other and are unable to speak, except in strange snatches of delirious excitement. We laugh, we cry, we hug each other. We’ve just had one of the best nights of our lives.

That was November 2024, on the Sydney Opera House forecourt. Just over a year later, Thom Yorke Live at Sydney Opera House premiered at the Playhouse Theatre. Many of us in the room had been at the shows themselves, and the film captured those nights exactly as we remembered them.

There are few stages in the world like this one. For the performer, the view is extraordinary. Beyond the audience, the white tiled sails rise into the night, and past them the harbour opens into a vast dark expanse, city lights scattered across the water, the Harbour Bridge glowing in the distance with Luna Park lit beneath its arch. The audience sits across the Opera House steps, turning one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world into part of the performance.

Thom walks onstage without ceremony. He pauses, takes in the scene, and begins. The opening sequence is a gentle acoustic performance of Let Down, with Thom alone and accompanied only by his guitar. It is soft, warm, and immediately arresting. A seabird drifts across the frame in slow motion. For a song already so deeply embedded in people’s lives, this version captures something genuinely special.

From there, the set draws from across Thom’s entire career. Solo electronic material sits alongside intimate acoustic performances, reimagined Radiohead classics and deep cuts rendered with unexpected vulnerability.

Although more than 30 songs were played across the two nights, the film, with Thom himself selecting the final sequence, feels carefully shaped, with the flow and intent of a single performance. The camera moves between Thom, the crowd, and the harbour beyond, from aerial views to shots from behind the stage that reveal the scale of what he is singing into, expansive yet intimate.

There are unforgettable details throughout. Visually, the film feels like cinema. Drone shots show us Sydney Harbour, catching the stage lights, the water, and the sails. Birds circle the stage during Dawn Chorus, as if they’d been summoned. Thom’s hair moves in the wind like it’s caught in the music during Rabbit in Your Headlights. When Mark Pritchard joins him for Back in the Game, the two share a quiet, knowing chemistry.

The sound engineering is pristine, allowing Thom’s voice, with all its effects, reverb, and delay, to sit clearly in the mix. In Black Swan, he plays the bass live while singing, giving the song a lighter, more fluid groove than its loop-driven live versions. Hearing Damage lands with real force, the stage visuals rippling across the screens and composited into the surrounding sky. The closing Everything In Its Right Place stands out as one of the most accomplished live versions ever captured, sounding closer to its studio incarnation than it ever has before.

The camera repeatedly returns to the audience, documenting couples and friends leaning into each other, singing along, and dancing as rain moves through the crowd. By the end, Thom offers a terse thank you and disappears.

Watching this film felt extraordinary. This is a culmination of Thom’s life’s work, presented in a magical setting with a crowd deep in the moment, distilled to 85 minutes. It is rare to sit with a document of what you already know were the best shows of your life and find nothing diminished. I spent the entire runtime in awe. Even now, I am still not over it.

An interview with director Dave May, of Tall Story Films, appears below:

Dave May on Filming Thom

What was it like working on this?

“This one was just so special to me as someone who grew up with Thom’s music. This is one of those projects that you have to pinch yourself to be involved in.”

“When I was quite young my sister had The Eraser on CD and she was my gateway into cool music. That album was so formative. It’s kind of funny that I got into Thom’s solo stuff before I got into Radiohead. I’ve always felt a really strong connection to Thom’s solo work.”

“To get the chance to capture that music, and to portray the way that it makes me feel and the way it’s making other people feel, that’s pretty special.”

What did you notice after spending time with the performances?

“I was amazed at Thom’s ability to keep those setlists in his head each night. The different songs, the different instruments that are required, and the different kinds of performance that each one necessitates.”

“It was amazing getting to see someone who’s spent so many years perfecting their craft get up there and completely own the stage.”

The Opera House never feels touristy. How did you manage that?

“Even though we had these great drone shots, it was important that we didn’t overdo it. I’ve worked around the Opera House for years now and I never get sick of walking up to it. I’ve always felt a little bit impressed by it, so in the way that we shoot it we try to bring that in. It’s such a cool place to shoot.”

How did you approach filming this solo show?

“When we film a live music concert, the big question is how many cameras, but the more important question is where do you put the cameras. Because it was this one man show, it wasn’t just about coverage. It became about where to put cameras that evoke a certain mood and show an aspect of the production in an interesting way. I decided to use anamorphic lenses. They have some limitations, but they also have a lot of character and a more filmic quality. I think that helped bring a level of high end production that reflects the music Thom makes, so cinematic and beautiful.”

The lighting, crowd and drone shots really bring out the magic of the open air setting. How did you think about the visual language?

“These aren’t thrashy rock shows where everyone is jumping around in a big mosh pit. A lot of people go to listen, to reflect, and to think about the times in their lives that the music impacted them. It wasn’t just about seeing what was happening on stage. It was about creating a tone or a vibe that suited the different songs.”

What role did the rain play?

“When it rains, I do feel like people relax. You’re more connected to the people around you because you’re all in this together. We sort of leaned into the rain. It was so great to have these shots of people dancing in it, enjoying themselves. It was also cool that it got really heavy during Back in the Game and Everything in Its Right Place, which are such emotive big songs. It really made the edit fun.”

Thom’s role in shaping the film, including selecting songs across the two nights, was mentioned at the premiere. What stood out to you?

“The selection of tracks gives a fantastic cross section of what those shows were. It gives a sense of the ebb and flow. You’ve got acoustic tracks that feel stripped back, piano based tracks that are some of the most moving stuff we’ve ever shot, and high energy electronic beat driven pieces. When I look at those tracks together, you can really see the journey Thom wanted to take people on.”

Any personal favourites?

“I think it’s amazing that we got to make an 85 minute concert film of Thom Yorke. It feels really generous that that much of the show is being put out in the world, so I’m over the moon. Dawn Chorus is one of my favourite pieces of music ever, so when I saw it was going to be included I was just like, great, everything else is a bonus. It’s such a beautiful piece of music, and I hope the way that part of the video has been cut together helps convey that. I think a lot of people in the crowd were feeling connected to that song.”

What do you think audiences will connect with most?

“At the premiere screening it was fun knowing what was coming next in the setlist and realising that other people didn’t. It was so cool to see those big reactions for songs people know, like Everything in Its Right Place or All I Need. At the same time, there’s stuff people might be surprised by. For me, Rabbit in Your Headlights, an UNKLE track. I was a huge fan and hadn’t thought about that song in a while. To see Thom pull that out, and the version he did, is really beautiful. That track in the edit really stands out for me. Cymbal Rush, which closes the film, is also really powerful. He’s giving it everything in that performance. Honestly, I love them all. There are so many cool tracks.”

Australians can catch the film in cinemas from March 6th.

SET LIST

Let Down

Packt

Truth Ray

Jigsaw Falling Into Place

Rabbit In Your Headlights

Atoms For Peace

Bloom

Not The News

Hearing Damage

Black Swan

Dawn Chorus

Default

Back In The Game

Everything In Its Right Place

All I Need

Cymbal Rush

Below photos taken outside the Opera House, on premiere night:

Something about this cruise ship looked a little familiar...

This is an excerpt from ALL THESE WEIRD CREATURES Issue 01, a 48p Radiohead fanzine. Should you wish to request a copy, send an email to The Thief at mail2thethief@gmail.com