Frank Ocean’s highly-anticipated return to Coachella over the weekend didn’t quite pan out as most fans had imagined. To be fair, Justin Bieber thought he did a great job. However, shortly after the event ended, rumors began circulating on social media about what caused the disconnect. Well, now a hockey podcast, Empty Netters, is spilling the tea about what it was like behind the scenes at Coachella on the day of the singer’s headlining performance.
Hosted by former hockey players Dan and Chris Powers, the duo held nothing back regarding the chaotic set. Both gentlemen were slated to appear on stage with the “Pyramids” singer after being referred to Ocean’s creative team by former New Jersey Devils’ player-turned-Hollywood scout Chris Nelson.
Dan shared that for nearly a month, Chris, himself, and several dozens of skaters had rehearsed for the performance. “We’ve been hanging with Frank. We’ve been hanging with the other skaters. Hanging with these hanging figure skaters. Going through this whole process, it’s this huge ordeal.”
The commentator also revealed that rehearsals continued until the Tuesday before Coachella. But as it relates to the day of, Dan confessed that after the set pickup and call time for wardrobe and makeup was pushed back multiple times; he knew that “The wheels started to fall off.”
“We get to this hotel, and we’re told to be there by 12 noon. Then get a text that the runner’s not going to come until 1 pm,” said Dan.
Chris chimed in to say, “Then it was 2:15 pm. Then 3 pm.”
However, by the time they arrived at the designated area for wardrobe, “It was a nightmare.”
“At this hotel, we run into the figure skaters. The Olympic figure skaters, mind you, and they have disgruntled looks on their faces. And they mention to us that they’ve been cut from the show,” said Dan.
“We start to hear rumblings allegedly that Frank has been in an accident that has given him an ankle injury. So, people are saying, F’rank’s not in a good head space,’ and they. ‘don’t know what’s going on.’ And we’re sitting there, and it is becoming clear that things are not going well with this show.”
Eventually, the hosts are told the ice surface part of the set was scraped. They were asked to get in costume and walk around the stage, to which they responded, “F*ck no. No, thank you. I’m out of here.”
Chris interjects to say, “To be fair,r we both know how show business works in a lot of ways. Production is a mess in everything, all the time, but I will say it was a worthy experience if it had gone off correctly. But, I would say there were a lot of sunk time for the participants.”
He continued, “He really cares about the production. He had a very clear vision, and even though that vision changed a lot, he was always on us. Helping us. Making sure everyone hit what he was pitching in his mind.”
To which Dan pushed back to add, “It’s not like this fell apart, and he was, ‘Oh no.’ He was actively like, ‘I don’t want to f*cking do this anymore.’ Those figure skaters got cut not because there was an ice issue. Not because something went wrong. There was no malfunction. He was straight up like, ‘F*ck this. I’m not doing this anymore.’”
Watch the full podcast episode above.
