I miss Frank Ocean. I truly do. It’s been six years since the talented artist has had a live performance and seven years since he released an album. I want to hear his voice again. So you can imagine the frustration, annoyance, irritation and dissatisfaction millions of fans and I felt after we discovered that the live stream of his 2023 Coachella performance was canceled.
People across the world were waiting patiently behind their computers and phones, streaming Coachella on YouTube, watching for the moment the Blonde singer walked on stage and performed some of the best songs from his incredible discography. Unfortunately, for those not able to afford the trip to the California desert, that moment never came.
Nearly three hours before his set was scheduled to start, YouTube tweeted out the most heartbreaking sentence in human history: “Frank Ocean is not scheduled to appear on the Coachella livestream.”
At that moment, I could hear the hearts of every collective Frank Ocean stan drop.
You’re telling me that the live stream for one of the greatest singers of the 21st century is just not going to happen and we have to count on the Instagram Live from a woman who attended the performance?! I was extremely disappointed and many people on social media shared my emotions.
I don’t know who’s to blame but as one user on Twitter put it, “frank ocean you will rue the day.”
It’s unclear what exactly led to the live stream being canceled, but some suspect that it was because Ocean arrived nearly an hour late to his set. If that’s the case, then I am extremely upset with whoever is responsible for Ocean’s tardiness.
But, it turns out that those who were blessed to attend the live performance were also frustrated. Attendees on social media complained about the singer lip-syncing some songs, allowing the DJ to play 10 minutes mid-set, letting a random kid come on stage and getting kicked off earlier than expected because of a “curfew.”
It turns out nobody was exactly happy with what became of Ocean’s show. But at least those who were blessed enough to attend Coachella were able to see him live, imagine what the fans who had to sit at home in darkness were feeling.
We went another year with not hearing Frank Ocean’s amazing voice. Hopefully, he makes it up to all of us by dropping some new music in the near future.