Poway-Born Blink-182 Replacing Frank Ocean as Coachella Headliner

After a much-criticized performance during the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Frank Ocean has backed out of the second weekend and is expected to be replaced by Poway-formed Blink-182, according to multiple reports Wednesday.

“After suffering an injury to his leg on festival grounds in the week leading up to weekend 1 … Frank Ocean was unable to perform the intended show but was still intent on performing, and in 72 hours, the show was reworked out of necessity,” a representative for Ocean told the Los Angeles Times and Variety, in regard to the singer’s performance this past weekend.

“On doctor’s advice, [Ocean] is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.”

Ocean, who was initially scheduled to headline the Coachella festival in 2020 before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, appeared about an hour late to his performance this past weekend.

His performance featured less live singing than fans may have expected, and his set was also cut early due to the festival’s curfew — further disappointing fans who had not seen Ocean perform since his last official performance six years ago.

“A lot of people were very annoyed and angry because we were standing for a good hour, so already we felt the vibes off. … People were starting to leave and not even wait for him,” festival-camper Andres Gutierrez of Claremont told City News Service. “He had very long transitions in between songs, which was very annoying. … He only sang maybe six songs live out of 15 songs or 16. He was just singing along with us. He was basically karaokeing. He wasn’t even lip-syncing or at a mic during half the songs, he was just vibing with us.”

Gutierrez said another festival-goer told him he had been waiting for seven hours specifically to see Ocean, and he “didn’t get a show.”

Though his feet hurt from standing and waiting for Ocean’s hour-long set, Gutierrez said he remains a fan and enjoyed the performance he was able to experience.

Ocean had been scheduled to headline and close out the festival Sunday.

In October, Blink-182 announced it would reunite with its original lineup of Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker and Tom Delonge. The pop-punk band played its first reunion show in almost a decade at Coachella last weekend, Variety reported.

Updated at 4:57 p.m. April 19, 2023

City News Service contributed to this article.