Breaking his six year silence, Frank Ocean was scheduled to perform twice at Coachella for the first time since 2017. However, the excitement that was rapidly building up for his performances quickly deflated after Ocean showed up late to the first show and canceled the second.
Coachella, one of the largest music festivals in the nation, gathers fans and influencers from all around the world to see their favorite artists perform. Between ticket fees, hotel costs and showing up hours early for a good view of the stage, fans dedicate a lot of time and money to get the full Coachella experience.
Grace Tomlinson, a fan of Ocean’s music, was disappointed when she heard that an artist she regularly listens to failed to reciprocate the same dedication back to his fans and the Coachella stage crew. “Artists that truly care about their fans show up and follow through with their commitments as best as they can,” said Tomlinson. “Not only for the sake of their fans, but for the sake of the performers and people whose dream is Coachella.”
Ocean’s performance was designed to include an ice skating rink, so both construction workers and backup dancers worked for weeks to be able to execute this extravagant performance. However, just a few hours before the performance, Ocean called off the ice rink.
There were over 100 highly skilled ice skaters, some with Olympic experience, that were told the show was called off just a few hours prior to its scheduled start time. As the ice rink was disassembled, only a small portion of the talented skaters could stay to perform as backup dancers – but they were not able to showcase the skating routine that they worked hard on.
A performance that many people collaborated on was canceled so quickly and last minute. “It’s disrespectful to the fans and people on all sides,” Tomlinson continued. “A lot of sacrifices were made by other people to pull this off and I think it’s disappointing for these changes to have happened so abruptly.”
Being the big name festival that it is, Coachella is a dream destination for many fans and performers alike. These skaters lost the opportunity to showcase their hard work.
After his first performance, sources cited that an ankle injury Ocean obtained earlier in the week is what led things to be changed. However, with an injury that had taken place a few days prior, it is ambiguous to fans and performers as to why the show wasn’t reworked until the very last minute and there was an hour long delay before Ocean came on. The lack of communication as to when and why Ocean made all these last minute changes is leaving many fans upset.
Senior Tommy Glennon feels that the lack of reciprocated support from Ocean to his crew and audience is disrespectful. “While artists don’t owe it to their fans to be at their beck and call, fans don’t owe artists their support. Frank Ocean fans are reasonably upset. Whatever he’s going through is perfectly valid, but it would be unreasonable for him to expect his fans to continue supporting him after disrespecting their time and money,” said Glennon. This disrespect and lack of understanding can really isolate an artist from their fans.
In addition to watching these live performances, many fans also look forward to watching live streams and videos of these performances later on social media. Both at-home and on-site fans were left disappointed, however, as Ocean started the show an hour late and decided he didn’t want to stream the performance live.
Plans change and, often, there are some things that can be done to make the situation better. As fans and other performers made sacrifices to watch Ocean’s performance, Ocean could have supported his fans by working hard to put on a show to the greatest of his abilities – and communicate changes promptly.
Listening to music, attending shows and watching live streams are all ways fans show their support. So when an artist doesn’t recognize the extent of their fans’ support, fans become less likely to support these artists in the future.
