According to pitchfork.com and tmz.com artist Frank Ocean sustained  a serious ankle injury at on-site rehearsals during the week leading up to his headlining set at the 2023 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

According to a source who is familiar with the situation, doctors advised Ocean to take pressure off his ankle by changing his production for the show. A visible catwalk and circular stage at the end, rumored to have been an ice skating rink, were not used. Instead, Ocean sat on a stool while singing and periodically walked over to his backing band.

The ankle injury was one of many apparent problems during Ocean’s headlining set this past Sunday night. Hours before his scheduled set time, YouTube revealed the concert would not be live streamed as promised. When Ocean arrived onstage, it was nearly an hour late.

Also Ocean ended his set abruptly around 12:25 a.m. PST, citing the festival’s curfew. Coachella’s curfew is 1:00 a.m. PST on Fridays and Saturdays, and 12:00 a.m. PST on Sundays.

During the set Ocean performed alternate versions of songs from his catalog, including stripped-back renditions of “Novacane,” “Crack Rock,” “Pink + White,” “Bad Religion” and   “White Ferrari.”

Also the artist sang a handful of deep cuts, including “Come on World, You Can’t Go!,”a punk version of “Wiseman,” covered Willie Nelson’s “Night Life” and Isley Brothers’ “(At Your Best) You Are Love,” which is featured on the album Endless. During the performance Ocean was briefly joined onstage by dancers wearing custom Prada.

While  addressing the crowd, the artist did hint a new album was in the works and it is a tribute to Ryan Breaux, Ocean‘s younger brother who died in 2020.“I know he would’ve been so excited to be here with all of us. I wanted to say thank you for the support and the ears and the love for all this time.”

Photo Credit: Marisa Rose Ficara