Ice skaters describe Frank Ocean’s Coachella 2023 show from behind the scenes
Dan & Chris discuss Coachella between 2:07 and 19:03.
This article is an excerpt from blonded.blog’s Coachella 2023 autopsy, available here.
On Sunday, April 16, 2023, 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. Two would-be performers in the show, brothers Dan Powers and Chris Powers, discussed elements of the production that Ocean put ‘on ice’ in an episode of their hockey podcast, Empty Netters.
Part of the controversy surrounding the show involved major changes made by Ocean at the last minute—most prominently, a multi-million-dollar ice-skating rink (built in the middle of the Sonoran Desert) that was intended to stage hockey players and Olympic-level figure skaters in an elaborate presentation. After a month of rehearsals, most of the performers were cut just hours before the show. Those who did appear on stage played only a minor role in the production, walking back and forth during songs. According to a press release, two fractures and a sprain in Ocean’s left leg led him to scrap many parts of the show “out of necessity.” It remains unclear exactly why the injury necessitated the removal of the entire skating rink concept; however, Dan and Chris have offered some insight into what occurred behind the curtain from the skater’s perspective.
According to the Powers brothers, Coachella and Ocean hired the production company Hockey for Hollywood—led by filmmaker and former NHL player Chris “Nelly” Nelson—to produce an ice-skating program for their 2023 headlining show. 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 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. Dan and Chris 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 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 (only a catwalk remained in place, which went unused during the show). 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 iced program, stating:
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 Ocean handled the situation respectfully.
Check out the Empty Netters podcast for additional info. Read more about Ocean’s Coachella 2023 show (including more behind-the-scenes content) in blonded.blog’s autopsy.
UPDATE: During the episode, Dan & Chris Powers mention Chris Nelson’s plans to come the following week and “tell all” on their show; however, this did not come to pass.
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