Behind the Frank Ocean Coachella Chaos: Skaters Describe Last-Minute Axing of Epic Ice Routine After a Month of Rehearsal

Frank Ocean‘s headlining performance during the first weekend of Coachella was cut short and had a couple of bumps. It also reportedly featured at least three less songs than he rehearsed in soundchecks before taking the stage.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Drummer Bill Kreutzmann, one of the founders of the Grateful Dead and a member of spinoff group Dead and Company, will not be a part of the latter group’s farewell tour this summer, the band announced in a social media post Saturday. Although fans might assume his exit could be health-related, since he has had to sit out some Dead and Company shows in recent years, the group declared that was not the case in its post, and added that he is not retiring from music. Rather, the statement said, Kreutzmann’s departure was due to a “shift in creative direction.” No further explanation of what that might mean was forthcoming in the statement.

Bad Bunny is apologizing to Harry Styles.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The checkout lines for Record Store Day might move more swiftly than usual this year, due to the likely numbers of customers who will be buying one exclusive album and one exclusive alone — Taylor Swift’s “Folklore: The Long Pond Sessions,” the most massively coveted item RSD has seen or ever might see. And listen, we’ll be picking it up, too… if supplies last. (The title has been pressed in quantities of 75,000 for the U.S. and 115,000 for the world — about four times as many as any previous RSD title. Will those be enough to last on shelves for even a day? We’ll find out.) But slow down, Swifties. There are 300 other new releases where that one came from, and this is a chance to indulge some other retail-therapy whims or make some new discoveries. Yes, there are hundreds of middle-aged guys outside in line behind you who weren’t motivated to get up quite so early, and why should they be the only ones who get to enjoy newly minted LPs from the Cure, Arooj Aftab, Nas, Orville Peck, Charlie Parker or the Pixies on a Saturday night? There’s more to life than hoarding Taylor Swift, and it is hoarding absolutely everything that has a “limited edition” sticker slapped on it, with no prejudice as to the genre, level of obscurity or how long the artist has been dead.

Goldenvoice, the promoter behind Coachella, is actively trying to figure out how to use the ditched ice rink that was custom-built for Frank Ocean's headlining set, Billboard reports. They're reportedly hoping to incorporate it into the second weekend of the festival in some fashion in order to help mitigate the losses stemming from Ocean's cancellation of his performance on Sunday, which will reportedly cost the festival "several million dollars." The rink, constructed for an onstage performance of over 100 ice skaters and the most expensive element of the production, was nixed by Ocean the day of his performance after the singer was injured on the festival grounds.

It’s weekend two of the 2023 Coachella Music Festival and we have the set times for all of the performers set to take the stage.

Coachella 2023 Weekend 2 kicks off today (April 21), with Bad Bunny headlining and many more FADER favorites filling out the undercard: Gorillaz, Burna Boy, Kaytranada, Pusha T, Metro Boomin, Karol G, and others. Where last Friday’s schedule featured a short-notice set from a newly reunited Blink-182, Weekend 2 will see them taking the headlining role on Sunday, replacing Frank Ocean after he bowed out of Coachella 2023’s closing set following leg injuries he sustained on festival grounds before Weekend 1 (per his publicist).

Blink-182 will perform in the headline slot at Coachella this weekend with the band stepping in for the injured Frank Ocean. News of Ocean's decision to pull out of the second weekend of the California festival was announced earlier this week. Blink-182 appeared during the first weekend, playing a surprise set on the Friday.

Frank Ocean has pulled out of the second weekend of this year’s Coachella festival. He headlined the event last Sunday, but his performance was both praised and criticised, with many feeling that it was not up to standard.Later in the week it emerged that Ocean had sustained an injury prior to the festival set, which had meant he wasn’t able to proceed with the show as planned.

On Monday (April 17), speculation around what might have gone wrong at Frank Ocean's Coachella set started flooding social media. Twitter account Festive Owl, who's been a source of festival news for the past decade, tweeted about a scrapped ice rink performance, where many skaters were unexpectedly cut from the set. A day prior, a photo of ice machines backstage furthered the claims.

Skrillex, Fred Again.. and Four Tet are reportedly teaming up once again to close out weekend 2 of Coachella this Sunday (April 23).Coachella took to social media today (April 21) to break the news, confirming they will be taking the “TBA” slot after Blink-182 on the main stage on Sunday.See you Sunday @blink182Four Tet x Fred again..

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor The electronic-music dream team of Skrillex, Fred Again and Four Tet — which recently played a rapturously received five-hour set at Madison Square Garden — will close out the Coachella festival this weekend, sources tell Variety.

After a very chaotic and polarizing set at Coachella Weekend 1, many music fest fans are asking: who is replacing Frank Ocean at Coachella? 

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The era of “Truckin'” is now conjoined with the age of TikTok-in’. Although the Grateful Dead has been defunct as an actual band since the mid-’90s, the group now officially has a presence on the social platform TikTok.

Frank Ocean has cancelled his Coachella Weekend 2 headlining set, scheduled to close out the festival this coming Sunday (April 23), Pitchfork reports and The FADER has confirmed. Frank’s Weekend 1 performance — which some very vocal, extremely online fans felt was lackluster — was affected by a leg injury he had sustained earlier last week, according to his publicist.

Frank Ocean‘s Coachella set have spoken out about how their performance was axed.It was reported earlier this week that an on-stage ice rink for Ocean’s headlining set was scrapped after he injured his ankle during his on-ground rehearsals, causing several last-minute changes.Now, brothers Dan and Chris Powers have discussed their alleged involvement with Ocean’s scrapped stage production on the Empty Netters podcast.The Powers brothers spoke about auditioning for the performance on an elevated ice rink, and rehearsing for roughly a month leading up to Ocean’s set. They claimed that they were rehearsing with other hockey skaters and Olympic figure skaters up until April 11, and did not learn about the production changes until hours before Ocean’s set.“We get our call sheet, we have to go to this hotel to be picked up by a runner to be brought over to wardrobe and makeup,” said Dan Powers. “That moment is where the wheels started to fall off.

Frank Ocean has pulled out of his headline performance at Coachella's second weekend. 

Coachella this weekend after a controversial performance in the desert on Sunday, The Post can confirm. Blink-182 will reportedly take the 35-year-old “Lost” singer’s place this Sunday.The punk band’s original lineup, Mark Hoppus, 51, Travis Barker, 47, and Tom Delonge, 47, reunited at Coachella on Friday for the first time since Delonge left the band in 2015. “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,” Ocean’s rep said in a statement to The Post on Wednesday.

Frank Ocean has pulled out of his headlining slot at Coachella weekend 2 this coming Sunday (April 23) and will reportedly be replaced by Blink-182.Frank Ocean’s withdrawal was announced via the singer’s agency, Huxley in a statement to press. Huxley’s statement reads: “Frank Ocean will not be performing at weekend 2 of Coachella.”“After suffering an injury to his leg on festival grounds in the week leading up to weekend 1.

The show must go on. Frank Ocean will no longer headline the final weekend of Coachella after his polarizing first performance the week prior.

A major change is being made to the lineup for the second weekend of Coachella!

Following blistering reviews for his disastrous performance headlining the first weekend of Coachella, Frank Ocean has dropped out of the second weekend.

Frank Ocean has canceled his appearance at Coachella and will not return for the second week of the music festival, multiple media outlets report.

Frank Ocean is no longer set to headline the second weekend of Coachella after a divisive and poorly received performance last Sunday.A rep for the singer released a statement to ET confirming, «Frank Ocean will not be performing at weekend 2 of Coachella.»«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.»The rep's statement said that, «on doctor’s advice,» Ocean will not perform again «due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.»The statement included remarks from Ocean himself, who commented on his first weekend set, sharing, «It was chaotic. There is some beauty in chaos.

Frank Ocean will not be performing his scheduled headlining slot at Coachella this Sunday, a rep for the singer confirms to Variety. A source close to the situation says his spot will be taken by Blink-182. The statement reads: “Frank Ocean will not be performing at weekend 2 of Coachella.  “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, [Ocean] is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.”

Frank Ocean originally had an epic ice-skating routine planned for his Coachella 2023 performance. After he was originally set to headline the music festival in 2020 — before the pandemic shut down the festival — Ocean returned to Indio, California, on Sunday to headline the first weekend of this year's star-studded music festival. The performance was the singer's first in six years since 2017's Flow Festival in Finland.When it came time for his performance, fans became irate when not only was it announced that his set would not be included in YouTube's livestream from the festival, but signs placed around the venue declared that no Frank Ocean merchandise would be available for purchase at the festival.

Justin Bieber praised Frank Ocean’s Coachella set over the weekend, but it looks like he might not remember all of it judging by a TikTok clip that’s been doing the rounds online.

Justin Bieber has defended Frank Ocean‘s controversial headline set at Coachella last weekend.Just hours he was set to take the stage on April 16 – which would mark his first live performance in six years – it was announced that his set (along with Björk’s) would not be streamed on Coachella’s official YouTube channels, causing an uproar online.His performance, which was then cut short after being informed that the festival had hit its curfew limi, received mix reactions from fans. Some praised Ocean and the set for its unexpected remixes and Ocean’s vocals, while others criticised the singer for being late and ending his set abruptly.One supporter was Justin Bieber – who took to Instagram to share his support Ocean by posting a photo from the set while declaring that he had been “blown away”.“His artistry is simply unmatched, his style, his taste, his voice, his attention to detail,” wrote Bieber. “I was deeply moved.

Unconditional brotherly love. Frank Ocean’s brother got a tribute at his headlining Coachella set. The “Pyramids” artist reminisced about the times that he spent with his deceased brother at the desert music festival when he headlined on April 16, 2023.

Frank Ocean made a highly-anticipated return to the stage at California's Coachella festival over the weekend, but the show ended up disastrous and fans have blasted his comeback performance as "terrible."

Liam Gallagher has said Coachella is a “pathetic festival”.He made the remark after a fan said the former Oasis frontman should headline the festival and show headliner Frank Ocean “how it’s done.”When one fan pointed out that he had previously performed at Coachella, he replied: “Never wouldn’t catch me at an establishment like that”.Pathetic festival— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) April 18, 2023babes you’ve played there—

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The LA Phil has announced the full summer season for Hollywood Bowl’s sister venue across the gorge, the Ford, with a typically eclectic and cross-cultural lineup that includes Mac DeMarco, Lucinda Williams, Jorge Drexler, the Milk Carton Kids, Darren Criss, Arooj Aftab, Meredith Monk, José James, a kids’ show by the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, a dance project from Serpentwithfeet and many more attractions. The smaller-sized amphitheater is one of the most prized venues for musicians to play in Los Angeles, although the Phil’s emphasis in its four months of annual shows there is far less on commercial acts than in maintaining intriguing blend of all possible arts, with jazz, Americana and Latin and global music definitely getting a leg up on pop in the programming.

Don’t get it twisted! Ariana Madix has NOT jumped into a new relationship as fast as her ex Tom Sandoval!

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic There could probably be no better evangelist for anything than the immensely respected Rhiannon Giddens, and the banjo is lucky to have her. The singer and multi-instrumentalist has been spreading the gospel of that instrument generally and its roots in Black culture specifically for years, in her live performances and as a member of a banjo-driven all-star ensemble, Our Native Daughters. Now, she’s taking a much deeper dive than ever with an outstanding 10-part limited series, “The Banjo: Music, History and Heritage With Rhiannon Giddens,” which has her and some guests who are pickers and/or academics exploring the twisted, fascinating journey of what she considers the quintessential American instrument. The series covers everything from the instrument’s roots in the African diaspora to its role in slavery to its adaptation as a staple of “hillbilly” music, on up to its resurgence as a staple of the Americana music scene today — and how, in Giddens’ view, it has been a reflection of divisiveness and unification in the U.S. over a period of centuries.

Despite the chaotic reception surrounding Frank Ocean’s Coachella performance, Justin Bieber remains steadfast that it was a great show.

Justin Bieber has weighed in on Frank Ocean‘s 2023 Coachella Music Festival performance.