Indio: Radiohead salvaged a headlining set at the Coachella festival from disaster Friday, April 14 following a glitch-plagued opening in which the audio system constantly crashed. The experimental rock icons, booked for the third time to lead the premier festival in the California desert, played most of two songs in awkward, inadvertent silence with front man Thom Yorke oblivious that the audience could no longer hear. After twice retreating from stage to deal with audio problems, Radiohead soldiered on with raw renditions of its best-known songs – including “Creep,” the English rockers’ 1992 debut single that they have since played sparingly. Such glaring technical problems are exceedingly rare for a band the caliber of Radiohead – long a critical favorite – or Coachella, one of the world’s most lucrative cultural events renowned for its punctilious organization. But it is the latest in a series of once unthinkable glitches in top-tier events, including an embarrassing snafu in awarding the top Oscar and sound issues at the Grammys. Radiohead opened powerfully underneath a sea of transcendent light-beams and stars – a “moon shaped pool,” in the words of the title of the band’s last album. Three songs in, Radiohead cranked up the energy on “Ful Stop” with a purple-drenched, crater-laden display that had the feel of a lunar landing, but audio issues were soon sorely noticeable with jarring bleeps over the music. The sound turned off completely two songs later on “15 Step,” with lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood appearing to notice problems. But Yorke, locked in his personal zone with his eyes closed and a sound monitor in his ear, jammed away with passion unaware that the crowd could see but not hear.