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Frank Ocean's Coachella livestream was cancelled, but the internet finds a way

His first live performance since 2017 would not be streamed after all. The internet reacted as you'd expect.

Caitlin Welsh

and

Chance Townsend

on April 17, 2023

Yes, Frank Ocean's weird green Met Gala fake baby also appeared at Coachella.

Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

It's officially Frank Ocean Day.

Not really, but that's what fans and listeners (me included) are dubbing it for the artist's first live performance since 2017. Frank is the headliner for this year's Coachella, having been the headliner in 2020 before the festival was ultimately canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since releasing his sophomore studio album Blonde in 2016, Frank has gone under the radar, sporadically releasing music here and there in the last 7 years but nothing major that would hint at a new album.

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And it's not like he's hiding away in a hermit hole somewhere—the man has been active. Frank has been seen exploring other creative avenues in his life including photography, fashion, and has allegedly even signed a deal with A24 to direct a movie. Heven Haile at Pitchfork has an excellent timeline of everything Frank has been up to since the release of Blonde if you need a refresher before his Coachella set.

However, even before the Grammy-winning star hit the stage, the hype was palpable.

Wish I could be there

Coachella is unbelievably expensive and many across social media will be left with nothing but their thoughts as thousands of others get to experience Frank Ocean live. This is upsetting because I'm here writing this and not in California to hear "Self-Control" performed live for the first time in six years.

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Others who do get to attend are emotional at the idea of hearing his music live for the first time in half a decade.

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Tracks from Frank's Blonde album are what many look forward to the most. Blonde is a highly personal and introspective work that has inspired a generation of artists and is probably most fans' first experience of Frank's unique creative vision.

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And some, in the days leading up to this weekend, believed Frank would be dropping new music. If you're new to the tinfoil hat world of Frank Ocean music drops, just know that some of his more dedicated fans following the clues of his life think he's about to drop new music every couple of months.

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Showtime: Frank Ocean returns to the stage

As Frank hit the Coachella main stage, the performance was everything you could ask for and more... or so we hear. While his set was originally on the schedule for the Coachella livestream on YouTube, an official Twitter account for the Google-owned video site confirmed what fans had spotted on Sunday afternoon: Frank was a late scrub, and fans not in the California desert would be denied their official stream. (Several other high-profile performers at the festival, including Bjork and elusive producer Jai Paul, did not participate in the livestream either.)

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But the internet provides, in the form of bootleg streams on Instagram Live and Twitch. (Even fellow megastars like Lorde and Drake were spotted lurking on the illicit broadcasts.)

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Yes, Frank was over an hour late taking the stage, but it did eventually happen.

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Clad in a blue hoodie and black durag, he launched into several cuts from Channel Orange and Blonde before a quick chat to the crowd where he confirmed that a new album would happen, just "not right now". He also brought the green robot baby from the 2021 Met Gala onstage. The set overall was a frustrating muddle of beat-driven interludes and devastating reinventions of his classic tracks — and then, as unceremoniously as it began, was cut off by Coachella's curfew.

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Will we see the whole show next weekend? Only time will tell.

This story was updated several times after initial publication to include new details.

Topics Music

Caitlin Welsh

Caitlin is Mashable's Australian Editor. She has written for The Guardian, Junkee, and any number of plucky little music and culture publications that were run on the smell of an oily rag and have since been flushed off the Internet like a dead goldfish by their new owners. She also worked at Choice, Australia's consumer advocacy non-profit and magazine, and as such has surprisingly strong opinions about whitegoods. She enjoys big dumb action movies, big clever action movies, cult Canadian comedies set in small towns, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Replacements, smoky mezcal, revenge bedtime procrastination, and being left the hell alone when she's reading.

Chance Townsend

Assistant Editor, General Assignments

Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and Mother Jones.

In his free time, he cooks, loves to sleep, and greatly enjoys Detroit sports. If you have any tips or want to talk shop about the Lions, you can reach out to him on Bluesky @offbrandchance.bsky.social or by email at [email protected].