Frank Ocean reportedly scrapped the original idea for his Coachella set after multiple production issues and delays led to a “last-minute scramble.”
Despite being one of the festival’s most anticipated headliners, Ocean’s performance on the first weekend of the festival has received mixed reviews from fans and attendees. According to Rolling Stone, aside from his ankle injury, several issues in the background led to the last-minute changes.
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Ocean’s rep later told RS that he suffered two fractures in his left leg during a biking accident a few days before the concert, which disrupted the production and caused his performance on the festival’s second weekend to be cancelled.
The singer originally planned an ice rink show themed to a winter wonderland, but “a lot of it was scrapped,” the source said. Ocean had plans to incorporate an ice rink and more than 100 skaters into his set.
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While soundchecking songs, two skaters said Ocean sounded great, while one described him as “a bit frustrated” during the rehearsal.
“There was already not the most positive atmosphere because everything was so late,” the other skater added. “He was asking [questions] in a ‘wanting them to take accountability’ kind of tone… At one point, they cut off the in-ears because they realized we could all hear.”
“There were a lot of production [elements] that Frank planned that at the last minute didn’t pan out,” added a separate source. “That threw everything off, so it was a scramble after that.”
A production head for another artist who performed on the main stage last weekend noted that they had to work around the ice rink in the days before Ocean’s set, and were surprised the performers didn’t take to the secondary ice stage on Sunday.
The uncertainty surrounding Ocean’s headlining show continued through Sunday, just hours before he took to the stage. After some skaters received “confusing messaging” from the production team, “things broke down.”
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Billboard reported on Friday that Ocean’s last-minute cancellation could cost Goldenvoice millions, especially since the company spent money on the ice pad and replacement talent.
Ocean also amassed $45,000 in fees for staying past curfew. However, per Billboard the report claims Coachella’s staff took almost an hour to set up the stage for Ocean’s set.
