Original Sunday headliner Frank Ocean pulled out of his Weekend 2 performance due to an injury and was replaced by Blink-182 and a DJ set by Skrillex, Four Tet and Fred Again.
“Weekend 2 has always been more chill. It’s a vibe,” Iris Rodriguez, 36 of Las Vegas, Nev. said as she walked the grounds at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on Friday, April 21 during the second weekend of the massive fest in the desert.
“I have a feeling that Weekend 2 artists are more established. They get the jitters out and now they’re like, let’s have fun with it,” adds Armando Pacheco, 24, of Long Beach as he danced in a nearly empty field with his bestie, Eric Barrett, 29, also of Long Beach, before the crowds filed in.
The artists aren’t the only ones who have had a chance to work out the kinks. This weekend’s set times are noticeably earlier, presumably due to the $117,00 worth of fines promoters Goldenvoice accrued last weekend by breaking the sound curfew three nights in a row, April 14-16.
Weekend 2 also brings a major lineup change with original Sunday headliner Frank Ocean pulling of this weekend out due to a leg injury acquired in the days leading up to his first performance in seven years. Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny still tops the bill on Friday and K-pop group Blackpink headlines on Saturday, April 22.
Deysi Rodriguez, 24, of downtown Los Angeles said she was so looking forward to the would-be Ocean performance.
“I wanted to see him cause I’ve never seen him before, so it is a bit disappointing, but we can’t really do much about it,” she said.
“I think he (Frank Ocean) has some personal issues so we have to respect him,” Andres Zamorano of Mexico added. “We don’t know what’s going on with what happened last week. That’s how life is.”
There’s still love for Ocean’s last-minute replacement, Blink-182, the punk rock trio that recently reunited with its original guitarist-singer Tom DeLonge and played as the surprise guest in the Sahara Tent during Weekend 1.
