Coachella 2023

Coachella 2023
Date(s)	Weekend 1: April 14, 2023 (2023-04-14)–April 16, 2023 (2023-04-16) Weekend 2: April 21, 2023 (2023-04-21)–April 23, 2023 (2023-04-23)
Location(s)	Empire Polo Club, Indio, California, United States
Previous event	Coachella 2022
Next event	Coachella 2024
Website	coachella.com

Coachella 2023 headliners Bad Bunny, Blackpink, and Frank Ocean (Weekend 1)

The dates for Coachella were announced on June 14, 2022, with pre-sale tickets going live on June 17.^[1]

Performance by Frank Ocean

On the final night of Weekend 1 of Coachella, there was uncertainty over whether headliner Frank Ocean would show up to the event. Despite his exclusion from the official YouTube livestream, Ocean began performing at 10:55 p.m., an hour later than his initial booking. He performed for an hour and a half, performing a rock version of his debut single "Novacane" (2011) that references Coachella, as well as reworked versions of several of his songs, such as "Bad Religion" off of Channel Orange (2012) and "White Ferrari" off of Blonde (2016). He then explained that his appearance was in honor of Ryan Breaux, his younger brother who died in a car crash in 2020.^[2] Ocean abruptly ended his performance with a cover of The Isley Brothers' "At Your Best (You Are Love)" (1976), once covered by Aaliyah, informing the audience that it was curfew.^[3] The performance was done through large video screens; the screens obscured Ocean and his band and were poorly lit. During the middle of the set, a DJ—later revealed to be DJ Crystallmess began playing, leading many fans to believe the show had concluded, before Ocean introduced her 15 minutes later, teasing Ocean's radio show Homer Radio.^[4]^[5]

Ocean's Coachella performance was harshly criticized from audience members, critics, and fans.^[5] The Festive Owl, speaking to several sources, later stated that a group of people surrounding Ocean were intended to be ice skaters and had practiced for weeks. As Coachella set up the stage, Ocean ultimately decided that he wasn't a fan of the ice skaters, leaving the festival with no option but to deconstruct the ice rink—which had been planned for months—threatening to not perform if it was not done. Melting the ice rink caused the one hour delay in his performance. Additionally, Ocean's performance needed to be adjusted as he sustained an ankle injury during rehearsals that week, according to Rolling Stone. TMZ added that the injury occurred while he was riding bicycles artists and staff use to navigate the festival, and was reportedly serious enough that Ocean's doctors advised Coachella to change his production.^[6] Ocean announced that he had pulled out of Coachella on April 19 due to his injury, leaving Blink-182 and later Skrillex, Four Tet, & Fred again.. to headline Weekend 2.^[7]

The lineup for Coachella was announced on January 10, 2023. For the first time since the festival began in 1999, all three headliners—Bad Bunny, Blackpink, and Frank Ocean—were not Caucasian, with Blackpink being the first Korean headliners.^[8]^[a] Following Ocean's departure, Blink-182, as well as Skrillex, Four Tet, and Fred again.., headlined Weekend 2.^[9] Coachella 2023 also featured acts fully sung in Arabic and Punjabi artist Diljit Dosanjh from India for the first time; these initiatives were part of a greater effort by Goldenvoice—the organizers of Coachella—to feature more diverse artists.^[10]

For the first time since 2019, Coachella 2023 hosted the Heineken House, a small venue sponsored by Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V., featuring American hip hop duo Method Man & Redman.^[11]

Coachella Stage

Following Ocean's exit from Weekend 2, Blink-182 (top), and Skrillex, Four Tet, and Fred again.. (bottom), were called to fill in for him.