Frank Ocean fans were met with disappointment last weekend after major last minute changes were made to Ocean’s Coachella set. It has now been confirmed that next weekend’s headliner of the festival has been changed to Blink-182 due to the 35-year old’s fractured ankle.
Before the concert even began, there was a report that the typical livestream of the festival’s performances would not be available when the mind behind “Nostalgia, Ultra” would take the stage in the valley.
According to those who were at the festival, the “In My Room” singer came to the stage an hour later than scheduled. During the performance, the set’s DJ was playing remixed songs from the Southern California singer’s discography. While some songs were performed live, there was a strong sentiment from fans that the set felt inconsistent and there was rather low energy from the creator of “Channel Orange”. The set was also cut short due to the curfew imposed by the festival organizers.
Social media users were quick to point out the flaws in the headlining show.
If I paid $1,000 for a ticket I’m there to hear Frank Ocean sing not perform like he a 2:30pm act at Rolling Loud 😭 https://t.co/3pcFeT8dac
— Joey (@gothamhiphop) April 17, 2023
After it was all over, there were reports that the set was not supposed to turn out the way it did. There were plans set in stone that were changed last minute by Ocean himself. These changes were reportedly made as a result of an injury suffered by the “Novacane” singer.
Many people are expressing dissatisfaction with the result of Frank Ocean headlining this year’s festival. Terms like “scammer” and “fraud” are being thrown around to describe the R&B icon.
ain’t no way Frank Ocean showed up an hour late just for him to say he had a curfew 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/Z6lhSPkiJt
— futuro (@futurexo) April 17, 2023
Frank Ocean got a Coachella check for a drunk Karaoke set, that boy might be the greatest scammer the game has ever seen.
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) April 17, 2023
With years between a solo concert and nearly two years of anticipation for the event, it is clear that people had high hopes for Frank Ocean that fell dead in the water.
In August 2021, it was announced by Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett that the headliner of the 2023 festival would be Ocean. It would mark the singer’s first scheduled solo performance in years. This led to significant anticipation for the event nearly two years in advance.