Frank Ocean — Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who was set to headline Coachella in 2020, prior to its cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic — has not delivered a live performance in nearly six years. After it was announced that he would be performing at Coachella this year, fans were thrilled. However, the performance did not go as planned and many were disappointed with various missteps: not livestreaming the event, arriving late, lip syncing and cutting the performance short.
Ocean’s highly anticipated performance began to provoke disappointment when it was announced that it would not be livestreamed on the Coachella YouTube channel. Fans were devastated to discover, only hours before he was due to perform, that his live performance would not be widely available.
Fans who were fortunate enough to attend the music festival were met with even more disappointment when the artist arrived late for his set. His performance was set to begin at 10:05 p.m.; however, he arrived nearly an hour later than expected, at 11:00 p.m. Many fans were tired of waiting and left early, expecting that he wouldn’t show.
Fans expected Ocean to give a comprehensive show, perhaps to make up for the six years without any live performance. However, “Chanel,” a majority of “Nikes” and “Nights” were not actively sung by Ocean. In total, he didn’t perform three out of 16 songs, accounting for a total of 10 minutes of unvocalized songs. As his set progressed, more and more people began to exit the venue due to their disappointment with Ocean staying behind the big screen and not singing live for parts of the set.
Additionally, his performance was cut short due to curfew. In the middle of singing a cover of “At Your Best (You Are Love)” Frank unexpectedly said, “Guys I’m being told it’s curfew, so that’s the end of our show. Thank you so much,” before making his exit.
Additionally, Ocean dropped out of Coachella’s second weekend, according to his representatives who told Rolling Stone, it was because of two fractures and a sprain in his leg. Blink-182 took his headlining slot for the second weekend of the show.
During his performance, Ocean explained to the audience that he decided to headline Coachella because he and his younger brother Ryan Breaux, who died in a car accident in 2020, used to attend the festival together. According to BBC, he said “My brother and I came to this festival a lot, I felt like I was dragged out here half the time because I hated the dust.”
He specifically addressed being away for so long and how much he missed his fans. Ocean is evidently still grieving the loss of Ryan, an important aspect to understanding his scrambled performance.
The divisive issue of the relationship and perception fans have with Frank Ocean is stark. Going into the show, many people also had specific expectations regarding his performance, which were left unmet. Fans were left wondering why Frank took on this show in the first place if he knew he would not be able to perform his best.
It is also worth noting, however, the better parts of the set. Ocean performed “White Ferrari” for the first time live, and fans were deeply touched by the beloved track. Frank’s statement about his brother was incredibly moving, and it is important to note that he is very much still grieving the loss of his brother.
According to Ocean’s representatives, in a statement provided to Rolling Stone, he said, “It was chaotic. There is some beauty in chaos. It isn’t what I intended to show but I enjoy being out there and I’ll see you soon.”
Kaviya Raja can be reached at [email protected].
