This Just In: Radioheaded This Way

If everyone who complains Dallas and Austin get all the good shows will kindly keep their mouths shut for the next few moments, Houstoned Rocks has a bit of happy news we’d like to report. Radiohead, those paradigm-busting, pitch-shifting Oxford rogues, released a list of cities for their upcoming 2008 U.S. tour today, and guess what? Yep, there’s Houston, right between Dallas and Indianapolis (it’s alphabetical). We’re “Lucky,” if you will: Houston and Dallas are the only Southwestern cities on the list; Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis and Indy are the only other U.S. markets not on either the East or West coasts.

According to Radiohead’s PR firm, Nasty Little Man, the band will subdivide their North American tour into two legs, one each before and after their summer tour of the U.K. and Europe. If their past Texas touring activity is any indication, they could come at any time: Radiohead’s previous three gigs in the Houston area were October 2003 at the Woodlands’ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, June 2001 at the same location and March 1998 at the Verizon Wireless Theater downtown, back when it was still the Aerial Theater at Bayou Place.

Dates, venues and ticket information will be announced later. Radiohead’s In Rainbows, released to traditional retail New Year’s Day after its much-hyped, pay-what-you-will online debut in October, is this week’s No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. Nielsen SoundScan reports Rainbows sold 122,000 copies last week, making it the group’s second LP to debut at No. 1, after 2000’s Kid A. – Chris Gray