State Champ Radio Coachella
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Frank Ocean’s decision to cancel his second of two performances at Coachella this weekend will likely cost the festival several million dollars, sources tell Billboard — losses that the festival will try to offset, in part, with finding new uses for the giant ice pad the company created for Ocean’s long-awaited performance.
A source close to the situation tells Billboard that festival promoter Goldenvoice is trying to make the best out of the millions of dollars spent on building a giant ice pad that was supposed to accommodate over 100 skaters during Ocean’s set last Sunday night but was scrapped at the last minute after the artist suffered an ankle injury. The ice pad cannot be used as a public ice rink, the source says, but the Goldenvoice team is working out how to incorporate it into another yet-to-be determined performance.
Ocean was to be paid $4 million for each of his two Coachella performances, for a total of $8 million, sources say. Since Ocean is not performing for the second weekend, he will only be paid for the first weekend’s performance. Goldenvoice, however, will still need to pay Blink-182 that same $4 million rate for their replacement one-hour headlining set on Sunday, sources say, and will also need to pay the newly announced Skrillex, Four Tet and Fred again.. combo for their closing set.
Typically, festival promoters pay an artist a performance rate and also cover basic production needs such as staging, sound, lighting and video boards. The artists will cover all additional production elements from their fee that are unique to their performance such as musicians, dancers, performers and other major visual elements.
In Ocean’s case, however, the most expensive part of his production — the custom ice pad— was built by Goldenvoice and came with significant energy costs. So, while Goldenvoice had planned to recoup that cost from his performance fees, sources say the production costs Ocean racked up exceed the $4 million he earned for the first weekend. That means Ocean failed to turn a profit from his Coachella appearance and that the festival will have to eat the remaining loss — for which it is highly unlikely to demand repayment.
Ocean also racked up about $45,000 in curfew fines during his set, which played 25 minutes past the mandatory midnight curfew imposed by Indio, California, city officials. However, a source close to Ocean says those fines are Goldenvoice’s fault, claiming Ocean’s set started an hour late because festival staff took an additional 50 minutes to change over the stage from Bjork’s set to Ocean’s set.
Despite the curfew fines, which added up to $133,000 over the weekend, according to officials with the city of Indio, the millions of dollars spent on an unused ice sheet and extra talent costs, Goldenvoice is still likely to make a profit from the festival. In an average year, Coachella grosses more than $115 million in ticket sales across both weekends and makes tens of millions more in food, beverage and hospitality.
Coachella’s second weekend kicks off Friday (April 21) in Indio.
The Coachella lineup changeups continue Skrillex, Four Tet and Fred again.. now joining the Southern California festival as weekend two Sunday night headliners, a source tells Billboard.
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This addition comes in the wake of Frank Ocean dropping out of the festival’s second weekend following a leg injury and a controversial weekend one performance, and Blink 182 also being added to the Sunday night main stage bill. (Last weekend the reunited punk trio played Coachella’s Sahara Tent on Friday night.)
Skrillex, Fred again.. and Four Tet will play the main stage on Sunday at 10:25 p.m. following an hour-long set from Blink-182. A representative for Coachella declined to comment on the addition.
Fred again.. teased this performance on his Instagram with a pair of fairly cryptic stories, one which read, “okay I can’t believe I’m saying this again, but does anyone know where Sonny [Skrillex] is” and another of him and Four Tet in a car with the caption “Unexpected journevsssssss [sic].”
Sources close to the festival add that the trio will play in the round on the satellite stage of the main stage, which was originally built to serve as an ice skating rink during the Frank Ocean set, but wasn’t used during the performance. (This satellite stage will not have ice on it this Sunday.)
This show will mark the trio’s first appearance together since their triumphant February 18 set at Madison Square Garden, which sold out the arena in two minutes. That five-hour show followed a series of pop-up performances by the trio in conjunction with Skrillex’s album Quest For Fire, which was released a day before the MSG show. Skrillex also released a second album, Don’t Get Too Close, during the MSG set, with the two new albums making his first full-length releases since 2014’s Recess. (The producer also teased what appear to be another three upcoming albums yesterday on social media.)
Skrillex, Fred again.. and Four Tet — the so-called Pangbourne House Mafia given their early recording sessions in Pangbourne, England — represent three generations of dance music, with this show marking another pinnacle moment for each artist. While each has previously played Coachella solo and amongst other projects — with Fred’s breakout year launching last April with a pair of massively well-received Coachella 2022 sets — this Sunday’s show will mark the biggest set they’ve done together thus far.
The trio have a flurry of collaborations together, including their most recent, “Baby Again” which is currently at No. 19 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.
Camila Cabello hasn’t addressed the recent rumors she’s getting back together with Shawn Mendes … or has she? Days after she was spotted kissing her former flame at Coachella, the 26-year-old pop star dropped a teaser for new song “June Gloom” with lyrics that fans think are definitely about reconciling with the “Mercy” musician.
“How come you’re just so much better?” she sings through layers of harmony and reverb on the clip posted to her Instagram Wednesday (April 19). “Is this going to end ever?/ I guess I’ll f–k around and find out.”
But if that’s not enough to convince listeners that “Shawmila” has been rekindled, take a look at what she sings next: “Are you coming to Coachella?/ If you don’t it’s whatever/ If you do honey, it’ll be all I think about.”
Mendes, of course, definitely did come to Coachella, and spent time at festival at the “Bam Bam” singer’s side. The two were spotted smooching Friday night (April 14), and curiously, Cabello captioned her new song teaser with the date “4.12.”
Neither of the two stars have publicly addressed rumors they’re getting back together more than a year after breaking off their two-year romance in November 2021. But as far as fans are concerned, they don’t have to. “Only couple I really think deserves second chance cause your love is pure and real,” commented one person on Cabello’s post.
“NOT THE COACHELLA REFERENCE… OH THIS IS FRESH FRESH,” wrote another fan.
Others left replies such as “Are you coming to Coachella….he did & you did & it’s EVERYTHING” and “Shawn bro this bout u buddyy.” One very stressed fan commented, “OH GAWD GET BACK TOGETHER ALREADY IM BREAKING A SWEAT.”
“Seems like she wrote this cuz she still thinks bout Shawn and wasn’t fully over him/ comparing him to her other relationship,” speculated another fan. “And she posted this specific part now cause she saw him at Coachella and something may have re kindled and she’s feeling all lovey lmaoo and throwing little subs bout it.”
Listen to Camila Cabello’s “June Gloom” teaser below:
Frank Ocean will no longer be performing at Coachella’s second weekend. The singer was scheduled to take the stage for the headlining slot on Sunday (April 23), but will reportedly be replaced by Blink-182, who reunited as their original trio during Weekend 1 of the festival, according to Variety.
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Billboard has reached out to Blink-182’s reps for confirmation.
In a statement provided to Billboard, Ocean’s reps shared, “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. On doctor’s advice, Frank is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.”
The elusive singer himself also added in the statement, “It was chaotic. There is some beauty in chaos. It isn’t what I intended to show but I did enjoy being out there and I’ll see you soon.”
As previously reported, Ocean’s ankle injury led to last-minute production changes during Sunday night’s (April 16) performance, including the use of an ice rink, which was built specifically for the set.
When the 35-year-old star appeared onstage nearly an hour later than scheduled, he performed 20 songs total, including completely reworked versions of some of his hit tracks like “Pink + White,” “Solo,” “Chanel,” “Wiseman” and more. Ocean closed out his much-awaited set with his cover of Aaliyah‘s 1994 track “At Your Best (You Are Love)” that was featured on his 2016 visual album Endless. See Billboard‘s full recap here.
Liam Gallagher has shared a brief but controversial opinion surrounding Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
The Oasis frontman took to Twitter on Tuesday (April 18), to reply to fan who was unhappy this year’s headliner Frank Ocean’s performance, urging Gallagher to perform at the festival and “show him how it’s done.”
In response, Gallagher simply wrote, “Pathetic festival.”
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When another fan reminded the star that Oasis performed at the festival back in 2002, Gallagher replied, “Never wouldn’t catch me at an establishment like that.”
Never wouldn’t catch me at an establishment like that— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) April 18, 2023
The first weekend of Coachella featured headliners Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK and a closing headlining set from Frank Ocean, whose divisive performance led to disappointment from fans when the livestream of his set was cancelled at the last minute, the artist offered no merch for sale and Ocean took the stage an hour late to sing what was described as a low-energy set of reworked songs from his catalog.
Following the performance, Ocean’s team confirmed to Billboard that he suffered an ankle injury during on-site rehearsals in the week before the show that required last-minute production changes, including scrapping a planned on-stage ice rink that was built for the performance. The skaters cast for the show then still joined Ocean onstage and wore custom Prada puffer jackets, acting as impromptu backup dancers.
Weekend 1 of Coachella has come and gone, but some of the most talked-about moments — Frank Ocean’s divisive performance, BLACKPINK setting the main stage ablaze, and that Harry Styles tweet at Bad Bunny’s set, to name a few — remain viral. Now we can add to that list Willow‘s performance on Sunday, for both its rave reviews and fangirl content from superstar dad Will Smith.
The Hitch actor shared two clips of his daughter’s set to Instagram — one of Willow performing the Travis Barker-assisted single “Transparent Soul” and of her leading the crowd in a sing-along to “Meet Me at Our Spot.” The first of the two videos features the actor excitedly grinning from ear to ear, captioning the post “WILLOWCHELLA!!” In a follow-up video, Smith tells his followers “I can’t stop crying!” over his daughter’s achievement.
Willow’s Coachella performance was a family affair. Elsewhere during her set, she invited her 24-year-old brother Jaden Smith up to perform their collaboration “Summertime in Paris.” He also expressed his happiness at seeing Willow up on the Coachella stage, saying, “It brings tears to me eyes as your brother to see you do this. I love you so much. I’m so inspired by you, I’m so inspired and happy for what you’re doing in the world and the amount of people’s lives you’re changing with the music that you’re making.”
See Will’s Instagram posts about Willow’s set and the sweet brother-sister moment she had with Jaden in the videos below.
Latto took to social media Tuesday (April 18) to shoot down accusations she had photoshopped a picture from her Coachella set to make the crowd appear larger.
“Never photoshopped a crowd lmao,” the rapper wrote on her Instagram Stories, adding, “I expanded it so it would fit in my Instagram swipe without getting cut off but it was clearly f—ed up so I didn’t end up using it & just posted the wrong version by accident on Twitter babes.”
The best new artist Grammy nominee then made it clear she didn’t intend to keep fueling the conversation, ending her statement by writing a simple “Next” with a smiling emoji surrounded by hearts.
Speculation about the snap taken from the stage began to brew online shortly after Latto’s performance on Sunday, as eagle-eyed followers noticed the same people being replicated in the crowd on both edges of the photo. “You gotta photoshop crowds now … those ‘fans’ are edited,” one Twitter user wrote in the replies of the photo in question, while another tweeted, “girl wut- two of the same people. editing ain’t it.”
Elsewhere on her Stories, Latto shouted out Saweetie, Lola Brooke and TiaCorine, all of whom joined her onstage at Coachella for live versions of, respectively, “Bi— From Da Souf (Remix),” “Don’t Play Wit It” and “Freaky T.” She also shared a shot of her planned 18-song setlist, explaining, “I didn’t have time for all the songs but this was the original setlist.”
Check out Latto’s Stories about Coachella here and here before they expire.
Dominic Fike has a fan in Drizzy. After nailing his Coachella weekend one set on Sunday (April 16), the singer-songwriter earned praise from none other than Drake on Instagram Stories.
“@dominicfike bodying his set,” the rapper wrote, posting a photo of Fike’s live-streamed performance.
The Euphoria actor expressed his gratitude for the shoutout by reposting Drake’s words on his own Story, adding a respectful salute emoji.
Fike also got love from stars like BLACKPINK’s Jisoo, who posted about his set on Instagram, and Cara Delevigne. According to Rolling Stone, the “Babydoll” musician breezed through his showcase on the festival’s Outdoor Theatre stage, telling fans he “wasn’t even nervous” to be taking on one of the world’s biggest music events.
He also opened up about his sobriety following struggles with substance abuse, sharing: “Hopefully I’ll feel something because, man, it’s been tough. When you quit drugs, it’s tough to get the serotonin back.”
Fike is currently getting ready to step into a new era, with his next studio album expected to arrive via Columbia sometime this year. Two days prior to his Coachella set, he released new single “Dancing in the Courthouse.”
Meanwhile, Drake — who himself headlined Coachella in 2015 — is fresh off the release of his own new single, “Search & Rescue.” The loved-up track left fans and drama-lovers alike buzzing for its inclusion of an audio file of Kim Kardashian’s voice talking about her ill-fated relationship with Kanye West on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated April 22.
See Drake’s thumbs-up to Dominic Fike below.
Calvin Harris honored Takeoff during his Coachella weekend one set, and Offset took notice.
Takeoff, one third of Migos, tragically passed away on Nov. 1, 2022 after being shot at a Houston bowling alley — but fans in the audience still got to hear his voice boom through the speakers at Harris’ Saturday (April 15) festival performance. That was thanks to the DJ’s incorporation of a featured verse recorded by Takeoff before his death into the set; according to People, the “One Kiss” hitmaker lifted Takeoff’s part from the pair’s 2017 Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 collaboration “Holiday” and mixed it into another track from the same album, “Slide.”
“Slide” originally only featured Frank Ocean, Offset and Quavo, so Harris’ augmented Coachella version made it possible for all three members of Migos to shine on the track for the first time ever. Harris also decorated his stage with a large portrait of the “Casper” artist as the song played.
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“This so hard, man, thank you,” Offset said, thanking Harris in a post about the performance on his Instagram Story.
Offset also shared a Takeoff tribute of his own on Saturday, posting photos of his brand new tattoo: an inked portrait of his late cousin, so large it covers his entire back. “Love you 4L & after,” he wrote in his caption.
A few weeks prior, Offset previewed a posthumous collab with Takeoff by posting a minute-long snippet of the track on his Story. In the sneak peek, Takeoff could be heard exchanging bars with Vezzo, who’s also featured, before Set takes the reigns with his own solo moment.
Jisoo wasn’t just a Coachella headliner this past weekend; she was also a fan. On Monday (April 17), the BLACKPINK idol shared her reactions to sets by Frank Ocean, Willow and more.
On her Instagram Stories, the K-pop star posted a clip of Ocean’s long-awaited headlining act on Day 3 of the Indio, Calif.-based festival, declaring simply, “Frank Ocean…legendary” above the R&B pioneer belting out Channel Orange fan favorite “Bad Religion.”
Jisoo also spread the love to the likes of Willow and Jaden Smith, Dominic Fike and others, declaring the Smith siblings’ onstage duet of “Summertime in Paris” the “best performance” and writing, “Can’t believe I got to listen to this in person!” of the latter’s performance of new song “Ant Pile” from his forthcoming sophomore studio album.
Earlier in the weekend, the Korean native posted a now-expired Story of herself enjoying Yungblud‘s set at the Outdoor Theatre as the Brit rocker played his 2022 track “Sweet Heroine.”
Of course, Jisoo was on hand at the festival to headline Saturday along with her BLACKPINK bandmates, marking the quartet’s historic return to Coachella just four years after they made their U.S. festival debut in 2019 with a triumphant set that included everything from “Boombayah” and “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” to “Pink Venom,” “Shut Down” and “Typa Girl.” Each member got her own individual moment in the spotlight as well, with Jisoo performing her newly released solo single “Flower.”
Check out Jisoo’s thrilled fan footage of Ocean, Fike, Willow and more at Coachella before it expires here.
