Frank Ocean performs at Coachella 2023 in Indio, California
Andy Abeyta captures Frank Ocean on screen at the 2023 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (Photo: The Desert Sun; fig. 1, 3, 5)
Note 2026-05-14: This back-dated news article has been published with the reopening of blonded.blog, although it continues to be edited and expanded. If you have additional information about this production and are willing to speak on or off the record, please contact Odysseus.
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 on Coachella 2023.
AMBIENCE 001: “MET HIM AT COACHELLA”
On Sunday, April 16, Frank Ocean closed out weekend one of Coachella at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, with perhaps his most unique and controversial performance to date. It was his first live concert in six years, first live event in four years, and his third time performing at North America’s largest music festival, after his 2011 appearance with Odd Future and his 2012 solo set. Goldenvoice (Coachella’s promoter) originally booked Ocean to headline their 2020 festival, but ultimately canceled the event after the outbreak of COVID-19, later rescheduling him for 2023.
A few months before his 2023 show, Ocean published an open letter expressing his intention to return to the “album model,” rather than the singles-focused strategy he adopted after his 2016 projects, Endless and Blonde. This note sparked online speculation that Coachella might be part of his next album’s promotional campaign.
During his performance, Ocean took a moment to clarify his intentions, thank his fans, and pay tribute to his late brother, Ryan Breaux:
It’s been so long, but I have missed you. I wanna talk about why I’m here, ‘cause it’s not because of a new album. It’s because—not that there’s not a new album—[*crowd cheers*]—but there’s not right now; chill, chill, chill, it’s not right now—[*Ocean and crowd laugh*]. These last couple of years, my life changed so much. My brother [Ryan Breaux] and I, we came to this festival a lot… One of my fondest memories is watching Rae Sremmurd with my brother and Travis [“Taco” Bennett]… We were just dancing in that tent to that music, and I know [Ryan] would have been so excited to be here with all of us.
I wanted to say thank you for all the support, the ears, and the love over all this time… Now, I’ll get back to the songs.
Artwork for Frank Ocean’s Coachella 2023 production, shared with Odysseus (ody§eus) via anonymous source; a similar scene appeared in the show’s background visuals, along with a video.
The 80-minute set aimed to subvert fans’ expectations by reimagining beloved songs with new mixes and arrangements. This included an energetic opening number with Ocean’s 2011 single “Novacane,” a punk-rock rendition of his 2012 song “Wise Man,” an acoustic expansion of his 2016 track “Self Control,” and a live debut of his 2021 freestyle “Come On World, You Can’t Go,” among others. Several songs featured unique lyrics, such as the previously unsung lines in “White Ferrari” that Ocean published in his 2016 magazine, Boys Don’t Cry. Ocean also performed a brand-new cover, “Night Life” by Willie Nelson, inspired by Aretha Franklin’s 1967 rendition.
“Dear April” producer Daniel Aged served as the show’s musical director, in addition to playing bass guitar, acoustic guitar, and synthesizer. Alongside him, the live band featured Eddie Burns on drums and Sir Dylan on keyboards and guitar (Sir Dylan previously worked on the backing track in Ocean’s 2021 “blonded Xmas” radio episode with Wim Hof). The new renditions were produced with a variety of retro and modern music equipment decorating the stage.
Alongside the musicians, lines of background dancers were seen crossing back and forth during the show’s opening number and several songs thereafter. Halfway through, Homer Radio DJ Crystallmess made a guest appearance for a 15-minute intermission, spinning a series of Jersey club-style mixes on a Pioneer CDJ devised by the late fashion designer Virgil Abloh. During her set, New Orleans-based bounce artist Ha Sizzle (dressed as a security guard) danced for the audience, and Ocean brought out his green robotic baby, Cody, a mascot for his luxury company, Homer. In the latter half of the concert, a young actor named Josiah portrayed Ocean’s “inner child,” mimicking piano chords and lip-singing to his vocals as he performed his cover of “Night Life” to the tens of thousands in attendance.
Throughout the show, vivid background visuals of an expanding, colorful mushroom cloud backlit the people onstage. The art direction may have been inspired by a “post-apocalyptic wonderland” brought about by a nuclear winter—a period of severe global cooling hypothesized to occur after a large-scale nuclear war.
A massive widescreen above the stage displayed the performers, sometimes using trippy video feedback effects. When the cameras were turned toward the audience, a smaller LED panel was visible on the back of the widescreen, which featured scrolling cyrons and lyrics in cyan text (using the typeface Infra, as seen in the Homer Radio logo).
Overall, the idiosyncratic production was unlike anything in Ocean’s past. Unfortunately, however, the Coachella show was mired in controversy.
AMBIENCE 002: “EXPLOSION”
Some contentious aspects of Ocean’s weekend one performance include the following:
When attendees first entered the Empire Polo Club on Sunday, they found signs displayed outside the merch booths reading “no Frank Ocean merchandise.” Videos of Coachella staffers holding up these signs and shouting to people waiting in line that “no Frank Ocean merch” was available would go viral online. Interestingly, a source tells blonded.blog’s Odysseus that merch by Ocean’s label, Blonded, had been designed for Coachella 2023 but never came to fruition for unclear reasons.
Two weeks before the festival, YouTube announced it would be live-streaming “all stages, all weekend” at Coachella, for the first time ever. Anticipation for Ocean’s headlining show had built up and reached its height when YouTube tweeted at 7:08 PM (PST) that he was “not scheduled to appear on the Coachella livestream,” contradicting tweets made earlier in the day promoting the stream. Some fans went nuclear over this announcement. Although Ocean’s set was never publicly scheduled to broadcast, a source told Variety that “festival organizers had expected it and were not told it wasn’t happening until the production changed.” Ocean may have pulled the plug because the concert would not be “what he intended to show”—however, this potentially backfired on him (as discussed later). Although the official stream was not to be, a few attendees (such as Morgan Lee) would end up broadcasting the event from their phones to hundreds of thousands of viewers online.
Deleted @YouTube Twitter post teasing Frank Ocean’s show on their Coachella livestream (Reddit: u/Subject-Property-343).
Ocean’s set was scheduled to begin at 10:05 PM (PST) but was delayed by 55 minutes for unknown reasons, likely due to various last-minute changes. Later, at around 12:20 AM, Ocean was called off stage for a moment before coming on the mic and saying, “Guys, I’m being told it’s curfew, so that’s the end of the show.” In the footage reviewed for this article, the mention of the City of Indio’s curfew was met with a collective, “Aww,” from the audience and a few “boos” when the floodlights were turned on. It came after one of the concert’s most intimate moments—the song “At Your Best”—which made the conclusion more jarring. Coachella’s headlining acts are typically 90 minutes, whereas Ocean’s show was billed at 75 minutes and lasted roughly 80 minutes (he performed for roughly 65 minutes, excluding the intermission). One source told Rolling Stone that Ocean had already performed more songs than planned when he hit curfew. Another report said that he rehearsed three more tracks during soundchecks.
For much of the performance, Ocean sang from a microphone stand while seated. A press release (featured below) later attributed his limited mobility to a leg injury he sustained earlier in the week. According to Ocean’s team, two fractures and a sprain in his left leg led him to scrap major elements of the presentation, including a multi-million dollar ice-skating rink (in the middle of the Sonoran Desert). It was intended as a stage for choreography by 120 hockey players and Olympic-level figure skaters. After weeks of rehearsal for their on-ice routine, the performers (who were not otherwise cut) played only a minor role in the production, walking on stage during songs. It remains unclear why Ocean’s injury necessitated scrapping the entire skating rink concept or why so many modifications were made at the last minute, if the incident occurred over three days earlier, according to his team’s statement. Skaters were notified of the production changes on the day of the event—after some had already gone through makeup and wardrobe—and the rink was dismantled only hours before showtime (discussed further in the behind-the-scenes section).
At times, the show’s flow was disrupted by technical difficulties, resulting in abrupt transitions or gaps between songs. These issues may have arisen from all the changes made to the show after rehearsals.
During his set, Ocean stepped away from the microphone on two notable occasions. First, during the 15-minute intermission—when Crystalmess spun remixes of his work—and secondly, during the songs “Nights” and “Nikes” (intro only). For the latter, Ocean appeared to have technical difficulties with multiple microphones, after his primary one cut out and two additional mics failed to turn on; ultimately, he let the tracks play over the loudspeakers and sang off-mic with the crowd. Several videos clipped from these sections of the show reached a critical mass on social media (garnering millions of views), with captions saying that Ocean wasn’t performing at his own concert. These viral moments did not represent the rest of the concert, which featured live vocals; nevertheless, the scenes of Ocean not singing—while a security guard twerked and a DJ spun his music—contributed to the less-than-favorable optics, and some spectators said they were disappointed that he didn’t perform more of his popular songs.
After the concert, AEG (Goldenvoice’s parent company) started removing live videos posted online by attendees and others. Ocean (or the controversy) probably had little to do with the DMCA strikes, as AEG has a history of aggressively defending its copyrights and trademarks; nonetheless, it left many fans frustrated and confused. Additionally, the takedowns may have intensified the online backlash by allowing the aforementioned viral moments to make a larger impression on the show as a whole, leaving people without an official livestream and fewer options to watch recordings of Ocean singing his works.
On April 19, three days after the event, Ocean’s team announced that he was pulling out of Coachella weekend two:
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. On doctor’s advice, Frank is not able to perform weekend 2 [April 23] due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.
The press release ends with a direct quote from Ocean, addressing his weekend one set:
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.
AMBIENCE 003: “BEAUTY IN CHAOS”
Despite the show’s aforementioned issues and visuals, Ocean’s Coachella performance was not universally regarded as “A bomb”—some notable attendees and pundits praised it. Music producer Benny Blanco said it was one of the best shows he’s ever attended in a vox pop with TMZ:
I loved it. It was incredible, so inspiring on so many levels. One of my favorite shows I’ve ever seen. [Do you think he didn’t deserve the backlash he got?] I don’t read the internet. I was there; it was incredible. Best performance of the weekend by far.
Justin Bieber was also there and deeply inspired, writing on Instagram:
I was blown away by Frank Ocean’s Coachella performance. His artistry is simply unmatched, his style, his taste, his voice, his attention to detail… I was deeply moved. It made me want to keep going and get better as an artist. He continues to set the bar high and gave me a night I will never forget! Thanks, Frank.
Staff writers for i-D described the set as “beautiful and misunderstood” in an editorial published online, stating:
With great anticipation comes impossible expectation, and Sunday’s highlights far outnumbered its faults.
Likewise, Eileen Cartter penned a review for GQ that said:
Despite its late start and early end, Ocean’s performance through grief was a chaotic triumph.
Furthermore, the music outlet Pitchfork asked Instagram livestreamer Morgan Lee: “After everything that happened, was it worth going to Coachella to see Frank?”
Absolutely. It would’ve been worth it even if I didn’t have like 45,000 people follow me. It would’ve been worth it just to be there.
More information about the concert is available in the appendices below, including behind-the-scenes content, outfits, promotional media, photography, and the setlist.
APPENDIX 001: “BEHIND THE SCENES”
ACCESS PASS & ARTWORK [EXCLUSIVE]
Below is an all-areas access pass and artwork for Frank Ocean’s 2023 Coachella production (shared with Odysseus via an anonymous source). The image depicts a colorful mushroom cloud rising into a saturated blue sky; a variation of this artwork was used for the show’s background visuals, along with a video featuring a similar scene. In the foreground is a stage or skating rink, with ice formations along its nearest wall that spell the word “EXPLOSION.” In front of the structure are several frozen relics, including a human skeleton (with only its skull visible), a creature walking upright (possibly with antlers on its head), the number “96,” and a water fountain. The art direction could be inspired by a nuclear winter event caused by a large-scale nuclear war.
EQUIPMENT CHESTS
Prior to the event, stage-side photos purporting to show ice machines for the production’s skating rink circulated online. Although the blog could not confirm the type of equipment pictured below, all the chests contain gear rented from the special effects companies Antari and Strickly FX, which provide cryogenics such as fog and snow machines, as well as lighting, lasers, and more.
HOCKEY & FIGURE SKATERS
Two brothers and would-be performers for Ocean’s concert on ice, Dan Powers and Chris Powers, shared some behind-the-scenes details about the scrapped presentation in an episode of their ice hockey podcast, Empty Netters. Dan and Chris discuss Coachella between 2:07 and 19:03.
According to Dan and Chris, Coachella hired Hockey for Hollywood—led by filmmaker and former player Chris “Nelly” Nelson—to produce the ice-skating program. In early March, auditions were held at a soundstage (with a raised ice surface) inside Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California. Nelson cast about 120 performers, who practiced for the show over the following month. On Tuesday, April 11, rehearsals took place on-site at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. Dan Powers says it wasn’t until Sunday morning, April 16—the day of the event—that things started to go wrong. The brothers were told to meet at a hotel by 12:00 PM to be taken to the wardrobe and makeup preparation area. At noon, they got a text saying their transport would now arrive at 1:00, which was later delayed to 2:15, then 3:00. At 3 o’clock—seven hours before showtime and still at the hotel—they met a group of upset figure skaters, who told them they had just been cut from the performance. The Powers brothers were confused but carried on, getting into a van that had finally arrived for them and heading to the wardrobe area. As they waited in line for makeup, they started hearing rumors that Ocean was “not in a good headspace” following an ankle injury. Around 4:00, Dan got a call from Nelson, who instructed the brothers not to proceed with getting in costume. Nelson said that no one would be skating, and the rink was being secretly dismantled. He asked Dan and Chris if they would instead wear “sequin Prada suits” and walk across the stage during the show, but the brothers declined to participate.
In the podcast, Dan Powers also shared what it was like to hang out with Ocean, along with details about the program he put on ice:
During all the rehearsals, [Frank Ocean] was so funny, and he has no idea what hockey is. There’s a point in the performance where we’re skating around a circle, and then we all stop at a break in a song, and everyone pretends to be fighting with each other. When [Frank] was like, “Okay, you guys act like you’re screaming at each other. We need an example…” and [Chris “Nelly” Nelson] was like “Chris and Dan Powers, step up,” and we had to skate in front of everyone. And obviously, we [fight in hockey] all the time, so we start laying into each other, and Frank was standing there, jaw dropped, staring at us, because he had no idea who we were. To him, it looked like Nelly just picked two random people. And he was looking at us, and goes, “Alright, well, that was insane. That’s the baseline. If you guys can match that, great. I don’t expect any of you to be able to do it that well, but that was f-cking perfect.” And from then on, he started joking around with us. He has no idea what hockey is. He was actually asking, “What is this sport?” And we were like, “What are you talking about, dude? It’s like a major sport in this country.”
But he was just so cool. He was cool to everyone. He was teaching everyone how to sing the songs, giving them the cadence. It felt like [the Coachella show was something] that he really cared about—that he was super psyched about—and to see it all fall apart was definitely sad. But also nuts, because it’s not like things fell apart. He did it. Those figure skaters got cut—not because there was an ice issue or something went wrong—there was no malfunction.
Despite the unsightly ending, the Powers brothers seemed to enjoy meeting Ocean, describing him as a chill guy. He walked them through the correct notes for background vocals and cheered them on when they got it right. At one point during rehearsals, a few people were causing (unspecified) problems with the production, and they say he handled the situation respectfully.
Check out the Empty Netters podcast to learn more. During the episode, the brothers mention Chris Nelson’s plans to “tell all” on their show the following week; however, this did not come to pass.
APPENDIX 002: “FASHION CALLOUTS”
FRANK OCEAN
On stage, Frank Ocean wore a blue Mammut Eigerjoch Light IN hooded jacket and gray Loewe Poly Crinkle Trousers, as well as a black durag and white slippers.
HOCKEY PLAYERS [EXCLUSIVE]
A source shared info with blonded.blog’s Odysseus about the outfits planned for some of the hockey players who were cut from the program. The uniform concept included a beige Indera Mills thermal undershirt and pants, a beige vest bedazzled with rhinestones (not pictured below), and a white Bauer Re-Akt helmet. Additionally, according to would-be hockey player Dan Powers, the teams also donned sparkling chrome masks made of makeup and prosthetics.
CRYSTALLMESS
Crystallmess’ outfit came via French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier and Hugo Lecot, with jewelry from Pierre Demones and Mondo Mondo, and hair by Jawara.
APPENDIX 003: “INSTRUMENTATION”
Note: This section is incomplete. If you can help identify the remaining instruments and equipment, or have better photos, contact blonded.blog’s Odysseus.
During the show, performers used a variety of retro and modern musical equipment, including (but not limited to) the following:
DANIEL AGED
The musical director, Daniel Aged, strummed an unidentified Fender bass and an acoustic guitar. He also played a 1970 Minimoog Model D analog synthesizer.
SIR DYLAN
Sir Dylan played the keys on three different boards, including a 1976 Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, as well as unidentified 49-key and 88-key pianos. He also picked up a guitar at different points in the show.
EDDIE BURNS
Eddie Burns beat an unidentified acoustic drum set, which featured Istanbul hi-hats and cymbals. Alongside the kit, he also played a Roland SPD-SX sampling pad.
FRANK OCEAN
Frank Ocean (and others) used various microphones, some of which were plugged into an Elite Core PM-16 mixer that stood next to Ocean throughout the show. One recognizable mic in the unidentified bunch is a Sennheiser MD 441-U, labeled “Lead 3.”
CRYSTALLMESS
During the intermission, Crystallmess spun a series of Jersey club-style mixes on a Pioneer “Transparent” CDJ-2000NXS2 + DJM-900NXS2, custom-made by the late fashion designer Virgil Abloh as part of his 2019 exhibition “Figures of Speech” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
For more images of the audio equipment, see the “Photography” appendix.
APPENDIX 004: “PROMOTIONAL MEDIA”
LINEUP & SCHEDULE
On August 2, 2021, Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett revealed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that Frank Ocean would headline Coachella 2023. Goldenvoice later released the festival’s lineup on January 10, 2023.
BMW M3 E30
On April 10, a week before Coachella, BMW USA posted an Instagram video teasing Frank Ocean’s upcoming show. The short clip revealed a City of Coachella road sign before panning to a fire-orange 1988 M3 E30—the same model featured on the cover artwork for his 2011 debut project, Nostalgia Ultra. It is unclear whether the promotion was directly affiliated with Ocean or Coachella, or if BMW was simply capitalizing on the show’s attention to advertise its brand.
Video (no audio) posted online with the caption: “The past meets the future this week. As far as what comes next, we’ll let you guys prophesy.” (Instagram: @bmwusa, 2023-04-10).
A day before BMW posted the video, the same car was spotted in Coachella, California, down the road from the Empire Polo Club festival grounds in Indio.
APPENDIX 005: “MERCHANDISE”
NO FRANK OCEAN MERCHANDISE
Although designs had been in the works prior to Coachella (according to an anonymous source), no Frank Ocean merchandise was available for purchase at the festival, as indicated by posters placed in front of the merch booths on Sunday, April 16. Festival staff also held up the signs and announced the merch’s unavailability to concertgoers waiting in line, as seen in multiple viral clips shared by attendees.
Video of Coachella staffer holding a “No Frank Ocean Merchandise” sign inside a merch tent (TikTok: @PlanetBex, 2023-04-16).
NO FRANK OCEAN MERCHANDISE
One fan attending weekend two of Coachella was inspired to make their own merch that read, “No Frank Ocean Merchandise,” referencing his absence.
APPENDIX 006: “PHOTOGRAPHY”
Note: If you have high-quality photos from the event, please contact blonded.blog’s Odysseus.
CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY
Select a photo above or below to view it full-size version.
FOLLOWING MY DREAM, HEAVEN IS GUIDING.
In the show’s latter half, Frank Ocean performed a new, acoustic version of his 2016 track “Self Control.” The rendition featured additional lines in its outro:
♪ Following my dream, heaven is guiding. It’s stuck inside me, it’s never dying. Following my dream, heaven is guiding. Don’t cry and fall asleep on me. ♪
The words, “Following my dream, heaven is guiding,” scrolled across the widescreen as Ocean sang the closing verse. One fan was moved by the performance and later got a tattoo of the lyrics to memorialize the event, writing on Reddit:
Seeing Frank at Coachella meant the world to me; I had to make sure I never forget it.
ADDITIONAL MEDIA
APPENDIX 007: “SETLIST”
Below is the setlist of Frank Ocean’s weekend one Coachella performance on Sunday, April 16, 2023.
Ocean’s two sets averaged 32 minutes each, and the intermission featuring Crystallmess lasted 15 minutes. Coachella billed Ocean for 75 minutes total, scheduled from 10:05 PM to 11:20 PM (PST). The concert began around 11:00 PM and ended around 12:20 AM, lasting just under 80 minutes and concluding shortly before the City of Indio’s 12:30 AM curfew.
Songs with unique lyrics and/or significant changes to their instrumentation are marked as “new versions,” although almost every track used a new live arrangement. Additionally, a source told Rolling Stone that three more songs—“Pretty Sweet,” “Moon River,” and “Dear April”—were performed by Frank Ocean during soundchecks.
SET 001: “FRANK OCEAN” [~32m]
Novacane [new pop-rock version]
Come On World, You Can’t Go! [live debut; abridged]
Crack Rock
Impietas + Deathwish (ASR) [abridged]
Bad Religion [new stripped-down version]
White Ferrari [new electronic version; live debut]
Florida [live debut]
Pink + White [new acoustic version]
Solo [new bass-heavy version]
Solo (Reprise) [pitched-up; abridged]
INTERMISSION: “CRYSTALLMESS” [15m]
Chanel [Sango remix]
Lost [mixed with “Born Slippy (Nuxx)” by Underworld; Jersey club remix]
Slide [Calvin Harris song feat. Frank Ocean; Trippy Turtle remix]
Actin a Smoochie [Ice Spice song]
Provider [Jersey club remix]
In My Room [Jersey club remix]
Unknown [Big Freedia song; samples “Lens” & “Pyramids” by Frank Ocean]
No Church in the Wild [JAY-Z & Kanye West song feat. Frank Ocean]
SET 002: “FRANK OCEAN” [~32m]
Godspeed [live debut]
Wise Man [new punk-rock version]
Night Life [new Aretha Franklin cover; live debut]
Self Control [new acoustic version]
Nikes [abridged]
Nights [mixed with Sango remix]
At Your Best (You Are Love) [new acoustic version; live debut]
SONGS BY ALBUM & YEAR
Frank Ocean’s sets 001 & 002 (excluding intermission):
Nostalgia Ultra (2011): Novacane [1]
Channel Orange (2012): Crack Rock; Bad Religion [2]
Endless (2016): Impietas + Deathwish (ASR); Florida; At Your Best (You Are Love) [3]
Blonde (2016): White Ferrari; Pink + White; Solo; Solo (Reprise); Godspeed; Self Control; Nikes; Nights [8]
Non-Album Singles: Come On World You Can’t Go (2021); Wise Man (2012); Night Life (2023) [3]
LINKS TO CONTENTS FOR REFERENCE
Ambience 001: “Met Him at Coachella” / Ambience 002: “Explosion” / Ambience 003: “Beauty in Chaos” / Appendix 001: “Behind the Scenes” / Appendix 002: “Fashion Callouts” / Appendix 003: “Instrumentation” / Appendix 004: “Promotional Media” / Appendix 005: “(No) Merchandise” / Appendix 006: “Photography” / Appendix 007: “Setlist”
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