I was shocked when Coachella announced that Frank Ocean would be a headliner for the music festival. Frank Ocean is beloved for his songwriting and fantastic music. However, he hasn’t been in the spotlight for quite some time. Since 2016, he hasn’t released an album but has released a few singles. Even so, he isn’t one to perform or attend music festivals. Nevertheless, let’s focus on his behavior at Coachella.
By now, everyone has heard the commotion around Frank Ocean and Coachella. Fans rushed to social media with videos and comments about his performance. From videos online to personal experiences, many agreed that he barely sang and primarily let the recording play. He was also an hour late and supposedly stayed close to the band or behind the screen. This left a lot of festival-goers feeling scammed (especially when some had been there since 8:00 a.m.). Of course, after the performance, Frank Ocean’s team put out a statement addressing the issue. “After suffering an injury to his leg on festival grounds in the week leading up to weekend 1. Frank Ocean was unable to perform the intended show but was still intent on performing, and in 72 hours, the show was reworked out of necessity.”
Perhaps Frank Ocean was injured. However, the entire situation is complicated. More information has surfaced about the performance through social media. The set was supposed to include an ice rink that would feature choreography. Yet, due to Ocean’s injury, they had to dismantle it and rework the show. However, he was walking and bouncing around for the entirety of his performance, despite the injured ankle. He could have sung more instead of letting the recordings play. He could have given an intimate performance if he didn’t want to do a grand show at the last minute. A Coachella worker gave the inside scoop to Variety Magazine, making the ankle injury seem even more sketchy, the worker claimed that at the last minute, Frank decided he no longer wanted the original production, which included an ice skating rink and actual ice skaters who had been practicing all week for the performance. If the changes were not made, Frank wouldn’t have performed. So, the festival began deconstructing the stage which caused the delay in performance.
Frank Ocean has pulled out of performing for the second weekend of Coachella. Artists such as Blink-182, Four Tet, Skrillex, and Fred Again will be the replacement for the remainder of the music festival. Ocean has left fans with mixed feelings about Coachella and cost the festival millions. Many believe that Frank Ocean owes an apology to his fans and Coachella. I think it was Frank’s responsibility as a headliner to fulfill his duties and perform. He also could have been more transparent about the issues that were going on. Coachella may reinforce rules that ensure artists can’t back out last minute.