After expressing renewed interest in the album model earlier this year, Frank Ocean made his long-awaited return to the stage to finally headline Coachella — his first live performance since 2017 — over the weekend. And, in typical Frank fashion, he minced his words in addressing the follow-up to 2016's Blonde that we've all grown old waiting for.
A lot of people didn't think he was going to even show up, especially when it was announced at the last minute that the festival's official livestream was excluding his set and "NO FRANK OCEAN MERCHANDISE" signs plastered the merch tent. But, almost an hour late, the artist took to the stage — and had to cut his performance short, ending the show early due to the venue's curfew.
More important than the decidedly mixed reactions to the highly anticipated headlining set are the breadcrumbs that the cock ring peddler gave fans about new music.
"It's been so long, but I have missed you," Ocean said about five songs into the performance. "I wanna talk about why I'm here, '''cause it's not because of a new album — not that there's not a new album, but there's not right now," the elusive singer-songwriter admitted, sort of dispelling the seemingly ever-present rumours that he's about to announce new music.
He continued, "These last couple of years, my life changed so much and my brother and I came to this festival a lot," referring to the late Ryan Breaux, who died in a car accident in 2020. "I feel like I was dragged out here half the time. We were just dancing in that tent to that music, and I know he would have been so excited to be here with all of us, and I wanted to say thank you for all the support and the love."
A lot of people didn't think he was going to even show up, especially when it was announced at the last minute that the festival's official livestream was excluding his set and "NO FRANK OCEAN MERCHANDISE" signs plastered the merch tent. But, almost an hour late, the artist took to the stage — and had to cut his performance short, ending the show early due to the venue's curfew.
More important than the decidedly mixed reactions to the highly anticipated headlining set are the breadcrumbs that the cock ring peddler gave fans about new music.
"It's been so long, but I have missed you," Ocean said about five songs into the performance. "I wanna talk about why I'm here, '''cause it's not because of a new album — not that there's not a new album, but there's not right now," the elusive singer-songwriter admitted, sort of dispelling the seemingly ever-present rumours that he's about to announce new music.
He continued, "These last couple of years, my life changed so much and my brother and I came to this festival a lot," referring to the late Ryan Breaux, who died in a car accident in 2020. "I feel like I was dragged out here half the time. We were just dancing in that tent to that music, and I know he would have been so excited to be here with all of us, and I wanted to say thank you for all the support and the love."
Much like the promise of a forthcoming release, Ocean's dim lighting and stage set up with light fixtures hanging between him and the audience (an homage to Endless) obscured him and the other musicians from view for much of the performance.