Frank Ocean will no longer perform at Coachella for the second week, to the ire of his dedicated fanbase who’ve waited years for this moment. It’s not entirely shocking, given how generally unenthusiastic he seemed on stage last weekend. Coachella announced Blink-182 as his replacement, though some feel this warrants a refund. Apparently, the ankle injury he sustained in the week leading up to the festival led to the cancelation, as his rep confirmed to Variety. “On doctor’s advice, [Ocean] is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg,” they said.
Ocean’s set design underwent significant changes within a day of his performance. He reportedly intended to have an entire ice rink with hockey players. “It was chaotic. There is some beauty in chaos. It isn’t what I intended to show but I did enjoy being out there and I’ll see you soon,” Frank Ocean added in his statement. No word on when he plans to make this up, especially after his vague update on new music during weekend one. Still, many aren’t happy about the massive changes to the Coachella line-up.
Blink 182 Replaces Frank Ocean As Coachella Headliner
The chaos that Frank Ocean refers to in his statement seemingly references his turbulent performance on Sunday night. Along with scrapping his set design at the last minute, he was also significantly late for his headlining slot. Frank Ocean appeared on stage nearly an hour after he was scheduled and was forced to cut his set short after going over Indio, CA’s curfew. Many hoped that he’d make up the abrupt cancelation during weekend two but evidently, that won’t happen this year. On top of the live stream of his performance was nixed moments before he went on stage.
Frank Ocean’s Coachella performance was among the most anticipated sets of the year, if not, the decade, so far. He was initially scheduled to perform in 2020 but due to the pandemic, those plans fell through. Ultimately, there’s disappointment in the air, even if many expected the otherwise mysterious singer to find a way out of Coachella this year. There’s a legion of dedicated fans who spent hard-earned cash and took time off to see Frank Ocean live. Now, they must settle for Blink-182. Check out a few reactions below.