There’s probably only a few things more uncertain and unpredictable than the evolution of COVID-19 variants (specifically, whether we’re headed for another lockdown or if we’ll just continue going with business as usual) and one of them is whether Frank Ocean will actually emerge from his secret hiding place and perform live again.
In fact, Frank was originally scheduled as a headliner for the 2020 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but y’all know why that didn’t happen…*gestures widely at global pandemic*
Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett recently sat down with the L.A. Times and revealed that the Blonde artist will be headlining Coachella 2023.
L.A. Times reports:
Normally, Tollett would never reveal the name of any act so far in advance, but he says fans deserve some reassurance after the chaos and uncertainty of the last year and a half.
“Right now, it’s the Wild West,” he says. “I’m just trying to be as fair as I can to artists and to the fans to make sure that eventually they get to see everyone that we talked about.”
Originally booked for 2020 along with fellow headliners Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott, Ocean was not available for the latest rescheduled Coachella, set to be held over the weekends of April 15-17 and April 22-24, 2022, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif. (Rage Against the Machine and Scott will be back, with a third headliner to be announced.)
After the 2020 festival was initially postponed until October 2021, the festival was ultimately pushed to 2022 due to the ongoing uncertainty around the global pandemic. The most recent festival was held in 2019.
In terms of the upcoming 2022 festival, it still seems like there isn’t a consistent plan in place in response to the pandemic and all its COVID-19 variants—the full-capacity shows went on at Rolling Loud and Lollapalooza, with the latter requiring attendees to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. The packed festivals definitely raised concerns about a possible superspreader surge.
“We’re monitoring everything,” Tollett noted, confirming that festival promoter Goldenvoice isn’t requiring vaccinations or tests for Coachella 2022 at the moment. “I don’t want to put anything in cement right now, because I just don’t know.”
Since 2020 has warped everyone’s sense of time, the thought of planning ahead to 2023 seems like an impossible feat. Hell, that could be a post-apocalyptic year for all we know. When it comes to Frank—who is known for being quite the recluse—re-emerging following an apocalypse seems pretty on brand, actually.