Frank Ocean’s first live performance in six years was a mixed bag and not acceptable behavior for any artist of such caliber. 

Delays marred ocean’s April 17 headlining set at Coachella, confusing artistic choices and curfews.

To start the fiasco, YouTube unexpectedly announced they wouldn’t be live streaming Ocean’s set, despite weeks of promotion. This confused and upset many fans.

I had to watch the same way thousands of others did — via TikTok live streams from people at the performance. 

Throughout the day, many fans noticed the stage where Ocean was going to perform was being rebuilt the day of his performance, which caused a delay.

Ocean was almost an hour late by the time he took the stage. After taking the stage at almost 11 p.m. he started the show with his hit “Novacane.”

After a few songs, Ocean told the audience the only reason he’s performing is in memory of his little brother, who passed away in a car accident in late 2020. 

Ocean said he and his brother always went to Coachella together and he wanted to honor him with this performance. 

After Ocean spoke to the crowd, he left the stage. A rave with remixes of his songs followed. 

Crystallmess, a DJ, led the rave, creating her own mixes of Ocean’s songs, which were well done.

I really enjoyed this intermission, but I see how this could leave fans feeling like they didn’t get to see Ocean and mostly saw a rave set.

After the intermission, Ocean said he wanted to include a rave set during his show since the genre heavily influenced him and it would be unexpected. 

Ocean continued the show with “Godspeed” and performed some of his biggest hits and a cover of Aaliyah’s song “At your best.” 

About an hour and twenty minutes after he took the stage, Ocean said he had to end the show due to the Coachella curfew. 

After saying a thank you, Ocean left the stage, and the show was over. 

I understand this performance was in honor of his brother, but the way he handled it is not acceptable. 

His set would have been great if it was on time but the constant changes doomed it from the start. Fans paid hundreds of dollars to see Ocean perform and they didn’t get their money’s worth.

It’s a shame because Ocean is an incredible artist that could have made his first show in six years amazing.

Ocean is scheduled to perform at weekend two of Coachella on April 23 and I hope his next performance is something fans deserve.