Frank Ocean drops out of Coachella – and fans are less than impressed: ‘How could he do this?’
Frank Ocean pulls out of Coachella weekend two. (Getty)
Frank Ocean has officially pulled out of headlining Coachella weekend two, following the backlash to his disappointing set on Sunday (16 April).
The “Thinkin Bout You” singer made his long-awaited return to the stage after six years, having been booked to headline the California music festival in 2020 – until the COVID-19 pandemic changed all that.
However, his set on Sunday night was beset with problems. After he stepped on stage an hour late, there was some bizarre stage choreography but no live stream. He was then seen to clearly mime to some vocal tracks before the show ended abruptly due to the festival’s strict midnight curfew.
As fans shared their frustration at the underwhelming performance, many were still eagerly anticipating his headline act in week two. But now but the artist has bowed out altogether.
“It was chaotic,” Ocean told Rolling Stone. “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.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the singer added: “After suffering an injury to his leg on festival grounds in the week leading up to weekend one, 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.”
He was forced to pull out of weekend two altogether on doctor’s advice due to the “two fractures and a sprain in his left leg”.
Two former ice hockey players, who were commissioned by Ocean to be part of a huge ice-skating number, explained on the podcast, Empty Netters, how everything fell apart just hours before the show.
“We’ve been rehearsing for months,” they said of the 120-skater-strong act with a custom build rink. Eventually it was cut down to 30 people forced to just walk around stage in Prada outfits and face paint.
“There was no malfunction. [Ocean] just straight-up was like, ‘F**k this. I’m not doing this any more.’ And to these 120 people [he] had bused out here, [including Olympic figure skaters] he was just like, ‘You guys aren’t doing s**t now.’ It was just like a wild flip,” Dan Powers claimed.
Variety has reported that Blink 182 will replace Frank Ocean as headliner for Coachella’s second weekend.
However, fans are not happy, sharing their frustration at paying so much to not even see Ocean on stage.
Many are wondering why he couldn’t do the set in a different way to accommodate the injury, while others are worried that this could be the beginning and end of the R&B artist’s return.
Some have even suggested alternatives to replace him. Hannah Montana, anyone?
