by By Hannah Hertel
The first weekend of Coachella concluded last Sunday with a performance from the highly anticipated headliner, Frank Ocean, but nobody could’ve predicted how it played out. From being an hour late to ending early due to curfew, fans are not sure how to feel about this controversial performance, and they have taken to social media to express their confusion.
Frank Ocean, a well-known neo-soul artist, was set to return to the stage after a six-year hiatus from live performances. The artist was intended to headline the festival back in 2020, but the pandemic ruined his original plans to return. Later in 2020, Ocean’s brother and best friend tragically died in a car accident, changing the artist’s demeanor ever since.
With barely any activity from Ocean these past years, fans were over the moon when his return as a main Coachella headliner was announced this year. After six years of waiting, fans could not even fathom what type of performance he was going to put on – some paid full-price festival tickets solely to see this one artist.
Ocean came onto the stage over an hour late, which is rumored to be because of his last-minute decision to dismantle the original set for his performance because of an ankle injury. He came on to perform a few of his most popular songs, but fans are upset about what followed – random minutes of silence, Ocean constantly disappearing from the stage, the random DJ set in the middle of Ocean’s performance and the fact that he didn’t even sing most of the songs. Instead, he danced around to the audio of said songs on stage.
It is important to mention that Ocean did not allow his performance to be live-streamed on the Coachella YouTube channel, which is what started the upset within people all over the world. Social media came in to save the day due to attendees live streaming the set from their phones on all different types of social media platforms.
Nobody wanted to miss this performance. These live streams allowed people to react in real time from all around the world, and they did not hide their confusion.
Fans are now feeling divided over their feelings about the headlining set, and most have resorted to social media to share how they feel.
On one end, many feel Ocean should not have agreed to perform if he was not mentally ready. The artist mentioned during his set that he only agreed to headline because of his brother’s love for the festival. These fans feel as though it showed Ocean’s lack of care and respect for his fans, and it was a waste of their time and money.
On the other side, people are trying to humanize Ocean and remind people to be grateful that they even got any songs performed live. Justin Bieber even shared to his Instagram to express his support and respect for the artist and his performance.
Fans continue to go back and forth, with each other and themselves, on how they feel about this performance. Some believe that it has changed how Coachella will choose, and execute, its headliners in the future.
As of now, fans and attendees of Coachella Weekend 2 eagerly await to see if Frank Ocean will pull out of the show, get pulled from the show or somehow make up for his performance from the week prior. Whatever happens, there is no denying that last Sunday’s performance caused a shift in the future of Coachella performances.
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It is really interesting to see how this is all unfolding. I think it is difficult because a lot of people have mixed emotions. I now wonder how people will react to the news of him cancelling for weekend two of Coachella. I think that some people would say that he shouldn’t have signed up to perform at all.
This was a great read. It’s crazy how the situation is all unfolding on social media, especially now knowing he’s officially dropped out of weekend 2. I was so excited to watch the live YouTube stream and about an hour before the performance got word that it would not longer be streamed. I ran to social media and thankfully watched the entire performance on someone’s Instagram live and I personally cried the entire time 🙂
Great read! I think everyone was either really shocked or not surprised at all by the events that happened this weekend with Frank. I feel for him and his injury, but also understand how disappointing it must’ve been to be there and wait that long for that performance. Even just waiting on lives for over an hour I was tired.
I think this whole situation is something that Frank Ocean fans will always remember. As a fan of his, I personally found it disappointing that his set wasn’t going to be streamed to the public, and even more disappointing that his performance was sub-par. It’s crazy that people have been eager for months to see his Coachella performance after years of inactivity, only to watch the circus unfold.
I really love how this post introduces empathy for Ocean, something I have not seen in the discourse online. I am very curious to see how this story folds out in the long run, for Ocean’s career (which is seemingly untouchable). Looking at the other comments, I wonder if Ocean will comment or address this situation. Thank you for posting about something as groundbreaking and relevant as this!
Great read! As a die-hard Frank Ocean fan, it has been interesting to see all the perspectives of the situation. During Weekend 1, I had extreme FOMO only missing his performance, and last year I was prepared to buy tickets for Coachella specifically to see Frank Ocean, so I feel for those who did the same, especially those who purchased Weekend 2. I can see both sides of it, and feel for both the fans and Frank Ocean.
I honestly hadn’t heard about this controversy until I read your post! I don’t closely follow Coachella as much as I used to, but this was an interesting read. I can definitely see both sides here. I feel for Frank Ocean because his ankle injury and the curfew was out of his control, however, I understand how fans would be frustrated after paying lots of money for tickets and standing outside for hours waiting for this one performance.
I couldn’t believe that happened at Coachella. The lack of care over the fans time wasted and the many fines he received tell the whole story. Frank Ocean love him or hate him did stir up controversy showing up very late and not even performing his own songs to fans. Rather dancing around effortlessly and lip syncing. I feel for the crowds who paid money to watch him and the people who took time to try and stream the performance. If he wanted internet controversy. He got it!
With people going to social media to express how they feel about their emotions, I think there would be a big divide and definitely change things up for future headliners. I’ve been seeing a lot of videos about this on TikTok and I honestly don’t know how to feel since I am a huge Frank Ocean fan. I enjoyed reading this!