Of course it happened to a (relatively) old-fashioned rock band.
After hassle-free performances all day by dance and hip-hop acts whose music relies largely on programmed elements, Radiohead ran into serious trouble with Coachella’s sound system not long into its headlining set Friday night on the festival’s main stage.
The problems began during “Ful Stop,” from the British group’s recent “A Moon Shaped Pool” album, with the sound dropping out everywhere, it seemed, except for on the stage, where Radiohead continued to play, evidently unaware that anything had happened. The sound returned in time for the band to perform “15 Step,” then dropped out again, this time for most of the song.
Radiohead then left the stage, with frontman Thom Yorke visibly frustrated, but soon returned, with Yorke blaming “aliens” for the difficulties. But the equipment quickly failed again during “Let Down,” which prompted the band to split once more before coming back again.
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“Can you actually hear me now?” Yorke asked the crowd upon his second return. “I’d love to tell you a joke, lighten the mood, something like that. But this is Radiohead.” Then he added an unprintable phrase reminding us that lightening the mood isn’t in the band’s nature. A Coachella spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incident.
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Thom Yorke of Radiohead performs on the Coachella Stage on day one of the festival.
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Singer Thom Yorke of Radiohead performs at the three-day Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio.
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Singer Thom Yorke of Radiohead performs at Coachella.
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Thom Yorke and Radiohead perform on the Coachella Stage.
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Thom Yorke and Radiohead perform on the Coachella Stage.
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Travis Scott onstage at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio.
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Travis Scott, right, reaches out to a fan onstage at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
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Travis Scott onstage at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
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Travis Scott onstage at Coachella.
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A stage hand, lower right, is ready to pull back a curtain for Travis Scott’s set at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio.
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A festival goer watches from a tree as Travis Scott performs at Coachella.
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Festival goers pass the art project “Is this what brings things into focus?” by Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan.
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The Australian electronic music group the Avalanches performs on the Mojave Stage on day one of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Friday.
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Dusk descends on a crowd waiting for a performance by Father John Misty on day one of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Friday.
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Father John Misty performs on the Coachella Stage on day one of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Friday.
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Father John Misty performs on the Coachella Stage on day one of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Friday.
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Romy Medley Croft, singer and guitarist for the English rock band the XX, performs on the Coachella Stage on day one of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Friday.
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Oliver Sim, bassist for the English rock band the XX, performs on the Coachella Stage on day one of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Friday.
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English rock band the XX performs on the Coachella Stage on day one of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Friday.
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Lexi Tuitan, 22, right, and sister Pia Tuitan, 20, of Manila take photos at the art installation ‘Lamp Beside the Golden Door’ at Coachella on Friday.
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Broods’ lead vocalist Georgia Nott onstage at Coachella on Friday.
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Festival-goers pose for photos against the ‘Is this what brings things into focus?’ art installation at Coachella on Friday.
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Banks performs at Coachella on Friday.
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Rapper Mac Miller onstage at Coachella on Friday.
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Coachella-goers dance inside the Yuma tent on Day One of the festival Friday.
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Lauren C., 28, of Temecula spins an LED light inside the Yuma tent at Coachella on Friday.
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Francis Farewell Starlite leads Francis and the Lights at Coachella on Friday.
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Francis Farewell Starlite leads Francis and the Lights at Coachella on Friday.
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Tacocat vocalist Emily Nokes performs onstage at Coachella on Friday.
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Coachella-goers relax against the ‘Is this what brings things into focus?’ art installation as the sun goes down on Day One on Friday.
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Francis Farewell Starlite leads Francis and the Lights onstage Friday.
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Coachella-goers ride the new air-conditioned ferris wheel at the first day of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Friday.
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Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller performs on Friday.
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Coachella attendees dance as rapper Mac Miller performs Friday.
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A Coachella attendee dances as rapper Mac Miller performs Friday.
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Coachella attendees groove as rapper Mac Miller performs Friday.
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Rapper Mac Miller helps to kick off the Coachella festival weekend on Friday.
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Coachella fans dance as rapper Mac Miller jams on Friday.
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Joalicia Hardy, center, and Britni Calaway, right, of New Jersey dance as the three-day Coachella festival begins Friday.
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Raury performs on the Gobi Stage.
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British singer-songwriter Sampha Sisay performs on the Mojave stage.
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Canadian indie rocker Mac DeMarco on the Outdoor stage.
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Atlanta singer-songwriter Raury on the Gobi stage.
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Atlanta singer-songwriter Raury.
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Joseph Motuga works security detail at the Outdoor stage.
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The crowd dances at the Do Lab on Friday, the first day of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio.
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Coachella attendee Brandon Behne, 24, sports a glitter beard during the first weekend of the three-day festival at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio.
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Stormzy performs at the Outdoor Stage on Friday at Coachella.
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Fans take in Stormzy on the Outdoor Stage at Coachella on Friday.
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A glitter-flecked fan watches Stormzy perform at the Outdoor Stage on Friday at Coachella.
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Festivalgoers check out the art in Chiaozza Garden on Friday at Coachella.
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The Chiaozza Garden at Coachella Music makes a prime place for picture-taking.
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A crowd dances at the Do Lab on Friday at Coachella.
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The crowd at the Do Lab gets hosed down on Day One of Coachella.
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Festivalgoers walk through the artwork “Is This What Brings Things Into Focus” by Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan on Friday at Coachella.
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Barbara Huynh of San Jose takes a selfie while atop the shoulders of Anthony Seto of Los Angeles on Friday at Coachella.
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Brianna Bender of San Diego, 22, smiles as she sees herself reflected in “The Lamp Beside the Golden Door” art installation by Gustavo Prado on Day One of Coachella.
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Festivalgoers are reflected on a piece of mirror art called “The Lamp Beside the Golden Door” by Gustavo Prado on Friday at Coachella.
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Berlin Murphy, 24, rides the Energy FACTory seesaw to create electricity to charge her phone on Day One of Coachella.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) Indeed, though Yorke and his mates still believe in guitars and other hand-played instruments, the band’s music has for years been preoccupied by dark thoughts of technology — how it might all go wrong one day and turn against us.
In a funny way, then, it made sense that machines would spoil Radiohead’s big Coachella moment. Watching the musicians flail away without being heard was sad but also weirdly entrancing, precisely the type of episode Yorke might depict in a lyric.
So how was the rest of the show? Oh, it was fine: Radiohead played a couple more numbers from “A Moon Shaped Pool,” including a slightly slowed-down (and surprisingly sensual) “Burn the Witch,” and got the “Kid A” freaks in the crowd panting with “Idioteque” and “Everything in Its Right Place.”
But as a festival gig — or perhaps as a make-good following the technical difficulties — this was also a clear departure from the band’s current tour, with less new music and more oldies such as “No Surprises,” “Paranoid Android” and even “Creep,” its breakout hit from the early ’90s. And Radiohead never seems as enthused reliving past glories as it does looking to the future.
“This is what you’ll get when you mess with us,” Yorke sang to finish the performance with “Karma Police.” But the song felt deflated — the sound of submission, not defiance.
mikael.wood@latimes.com
Twitter: @mikaelwood
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