Frank Ocean fans frustrated by ‘disappointing’ Coachella set as singer ‘performs an hour late’

‘Damn Frank Ocean became a supervillain overnight,’ someone commented

Frank Ocean is facing backlash after he was reportedly over an hour late to his Coachella performance.

On Sunday (16 April) evening, the R&B artist was scheduled to make his highly anticipated return to live performances following a nearly six-year break.

However, what was expected to be an eagerly awaited headlining show, quickly dissolved into a “disappointing” production, according to several attendees.

“When it’s an hour past Frank’s performance time, people are starting to leave, and he is nowhere to be found,” one TikTok video read, along with a clip of the desert festival crowd waiting in darkness.

In another popular video on the platform, one festival goer claimed Ocean left them “standing in the cold and waiting” for over an hour and a half.

They listed additional grievances with the “Lost” singer’s set, which they said included “long weird and silent pauses”, obstructed views of the stage, and around “six total songs of his original music”.

“Conclusion: people travelled such far distance to see him and people had high expectations,” they wrote. “And we all got really disappointed. The whole production was just... lacking and he was really not bringing much to that performance.”

Numerous fans have responded to the claims on Twitter, with one writing: “Disappointed in Frank Ocean’s Coachella performance, and I wasn’t even there.”

However, one argued: “Everyone complaining about Frank Ocean can just shut the f*** up. Y’all bought overpriced tickets to see one guy. As an artist, he has 0 respect for his fans. After everyone’s videos my opinion is pretty set.”

“They need to take him off the headliners for weekend 2 sorry,” a third said.

Another replied: “Dang. Everyone mad at Frank Ocean lmao. Maybe he’s goin thru some s*** idk.”

Ocean is said to have suffered an injury to his ankle during on-site rehearsals in the week building up to the festival, after which production was adjusted on doctors’ advice. The 20-song setlist included reworked versions of a number of his biggest hits, with a final performance covering “At Your Best (You Are Love)” by Aaliyah.

During his concert, Ocean shut down rumours that he was going to be dropping an album soon, before recalling memories of when he used to attend Coachella with his late brother Ryan, who died in a car crash in 2020.

“I know he would have been so excited to be here with us,” he told the audience.