Frank Ocean at Coachella – why his performance went so wrong

RnB singer Frank Ocean has loyal fans behind him. Relatively little has been heard of him and he has only released one album since his first album – “Chanel Orange” – in 2012. And only four years later. Since then there has been more or less radio silence.

He was supposed to be announced as a headliner at the 2020 Coachella Festival – but due to Corona, that couldn’t happen. It is therefore not surprising that his live performance at the Open Air last Sunday was eagerly awaited and touted as one of the highlights of this year’s programme.

However, the highlight of the festival quickly turned into an all-time low – at least in terms of atmosphere.

The bad omen

Actually, you should have had your doubts: the promised live stream of his performance via YouTube was canceled without reason. The fans at home were already angry at that moment – he will have it with the others a little later.

With this tweet, the user refers to Frank Ocean’s song “Novacane”.

The musician made the Coachella crowd in the desert town of Indio, California wait a full hour before finally taking the stage. The euphoria about the appearance does not last long.

Disappointment

His performance caused many question marks among many viewers: he wore slippers and usually sat on a chair. The 6 piece DJ set also caused confusion as whole parts of his hits like “Nikes”, “Chanel” and “Nights” were simply played off the tape instead of being performed live. While the playback was on, Frank Ocean felt his own songs instead of singing them.

In addition, Frank Ocean and his band were barely visible on stage – they were deliberately hidden from view by a circle of people circling around them. Most fans could only see their idol thanks to the large screens next to and behind the stage.

The apology

As sources allegedly told Variety, a very different show would have been planned — with an ice rink on stage and figure skaters as part of his performance. On Sunday afternoon, the whole would have been suddenly canceled a few hours before his performance.

There are two theories why this happened:

The one specialized in festivals Twitter page «The Festive Owl» cites sources that put Frank Ocean in a very bad light. He had “wanted no more of it” and caused the organizers to melt the rink. This was the reason for the one-hour postponement – had it not been for the last-minute changes, the artist would not have performed at all and the festival would have been without a closing act.

Rolling Stone magazine tells a very different story. It’s based on sources saying Frank Ocean sprained his ankle during rehearsals at the Coachella grounds a few days earlier. This would also explain why the singer sat for most of his performance.

Frank Ocean’s second scheduled April 23 performance has now been canceled and replaced by the band “Blink 182”. A spokesperson for the artist made an official statement to “Variety”:

At the end of the statement, the singer herself took the floor and said:

(ann)