As details emerge surrounding Ocean’s weekend one performance – including an abandoned 100-person ice rink – it has been announced that the musician will no longer headline the second weekend of the festival
Following a controversial Sunday headline performance at Coachella, it has been announced that Frank Ocean will no longer return to the desert for the festival’s second weekend.
In a statement released last night, Ocean’s agency Huxley said that “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.” They then went on to confirm that “on doctor’s advice, Frank Ocean is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.”
After Ocean’s performance on Sunday 16 April, reports emerged across social media that a bespoke ice rink had been the focal point of the original show, with over 100 professional skaters and ice-hockey players prepped to take to the stage. These plans were of course scuppered, but it’s unclear why. Huxley has reported that it was due to Ocean’s leg injury, however some of the skaters who were due to perform seem to think differently.
On their podcast Empty Netters, brothers and former hockey players Chris and Dan Powers went into detail about the ice-rink plans, revealing that they were asked to be “back-up skaters and singers at a live performance at Coachella with Frank Ocean”. But according to the brothers, after a month-long rehearsal the set was unceremoniously axed from the final performance mere hours before showtime. Although they were advised not to go into makeup by an associate who was aware that the performance was not going ahead, the brothers revealed that many of the performers had already been into hair and makeup, sharing a photo of the silver and diamanté performance look on their YouTube channel.
Chris and Dan Powers shared a photo of the ice-skaters make-up look from Frank Ocean's planned Coachella performancevia YouTube (Empty Netters)
The Powers brothers then added that the cut happened “not because there was an ice issue, not because there was something wrong… [Ocean] just straight-up was like, “fuck this. I’m not doing this any more.” Despite the countless production mishaps, the brothers were extremely complimentary of Ocean as a person, commenting that the singer “had a very clear vision, and even though that vision changed a lot, he was always on us, helping us, making sure everyone hit what he was picturing in his mind.”
In a separate statement, Ocean said of his first Coachella performance: “It was chaotic. 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.” Variety has reported that Blink-182 will replace Ocean as the Sunday headliner for weekend two, according to a “source close to the situation”.