The announcement of the Transmission Blackout Tour has sent shockwaves through the global music community, marking the first-ever joint tour by Radiohead and Massive Attack. Two of the most influential and politically charged acts of the modern era are finally sharing a stage, promising a live experience that blurs the line between concert, installation art, and social commentary. The tour is framed as a response to the modern age of surveillance, digital overload, and emotional disconnection, themes both bands have explored for decades in parallel but never together until now.
Transmission Blackout is described as an immersive, low-light, high-impact production built around distorted visuals, analog interference, and reimagined versions of each band’s catalog. Rather than alternating standard sets, the show is structured as a continuous transmission, with Radiohead and Massive Attack overlapping musically and visually throughout the night. Fans can expect radical reinterpretations of classic tracks, unexpected collaborations between Thom Yorke and 3D, and moments of silence as deliberate as the noise, reinforcing the tour’s core message of disruption and reflection.
The 2026 dates and cities reveal a carefully curated global run that prioritizes major cultural capitals and iconic venues. The tour kicks off in London, followed by Manchester, Berlin, Paris, and Amsterdam, before crossing to North America with stops in New York, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. From there, Transmission Blackout expands into Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, and Melbourne, before closing with emotionally charged final shows in São Paulo and Mexico City, signaling the tour’s truly worldwide scope.
What sets Transmission Blackout apart is its intentional resistance to spectacle-for-spectacle’s sake. Reports indicate minimal crowd interaction, stark stage lighting, and an emphasis on atmosphere over performance theatrics. Both bands have insisted the tour is not about nostalgia but confrontation—challenging audiences to sit with discomfort, question systems of control, and reconnect with the raw emotional core of sound. Early insiders are already calling it one of the most artistically ambitious tours of the decade.
With anticipation reaching a fever pitch, Transmission Blackout is shaping up to be more than a collaboration—it is a cultural event. Fans across generations are preparing for a tour that refuses easy answers and embraces tension as art, reinforcing why Radiohead and Massive Attack remain vital forces in music. As the countdown to 2026 begins, one thing is clear: this is not just a tour announcement, it’s a statement.
January 19, 2026
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