Coachella returns with broken mics, melting ice rinks, last-minute canceled performances

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With Bad Bunny and Post Malone—also known as Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio and Austin Richard Post—facing audio difficulties, Frank Ocean deciding that he wants to deconstruct his ice rink set last minute, and the live stream getting canceled mid-through Ocean’s performance, Weekend One of Coachella this year has been described as a mess by many.

“This year’s Coachella was very messy,” Anna Piscioneri (10), music enthusiast, said. “It was overhyped, and it definitely did not live up to fans’ expectations. I was disappointed with the sets and quality of certain artists’ performances. I am hoping to see improvements made for next year.”

On April 14, Bad Bunny and Post Malone performed for two hours on the main stage of Coachella. As the two sang the acoustic guitar versions of Bunny’s hits, “La Cancion” and “Yonaguni,” Bunny’s mic went dead, and Post’s guitar strumming was barely audible due to technical difficulties. Bad Bunny and Post Malone laughed off the audio problems, and the fans began singing along to the singers to fill the void of silence on stage. 

“It is too bad that their mics were not working properly,” Sophia Lim (10), Post Malone fan, said. “In my opinion, their collaboration was one of the best in this year’s Coachella event, and it would have been amazing if their performance was not disrupted by technical difficulties. I liked how the audience cheered and sang along with them though—it was very wholesome.”

Meanwhile, many fans criticized singer Frank Ocean for exhibiting immature and irresponsible behavior. He decided to take down his ice skating rink set last minute, calling off dozens of ice skaters who had been practicing for the show for months. Although the singer stated that he made this decision a week prior to his performance, many sources show that he abruptly canceled it on Sunday, just hours before his performance. Due to this change in production plans, the show started an hour late. Fans were especially disappointed because this was Ocean’s first live performance since 2017.

Fans claim that everything from the structure of the show to its renewed set was chaotic. Despite YouTube’s grand advertisement of its Coachella Frank Ocean live stream, the stream ended as soon as Ocean got on stage. On top of that, the new set comprised a battery of people walking around the stage—a set that fans expressed is a significant downgrade from the original ice rink set the singer had been planning. This set was followed by an abrupt mid-performance DJ live set that led many fans to believe that the performance was over. On Sunday, Ocean confirmed with Variety that he will not be performing his headlining slot that had been scheduled for Weekend Two of Coachella. 

“I was quite disappointed with Frank Ocean’s performance,” Alex Lee (10), a Frank Ocean fan, said. “It was very obvious that a lot of his stage was planned last-minute, and as a fan who has been waiting for so long to watch him perform live again, I was saddened to see the lack of professionalism he put in for his fans.”

Coachella attendees have voiced a few improvements they would like to see by Weekend Two including restricting technical problems and last-minute deconstructions of sets and live streams.