One of the hottest Splendour sideshow tickets in town is certainly Frank Ocean, with tickets to Sydney and Melbourne headline shows sold out in mere minutes after going on sale.
Though the Grammy winning neo-RnB singer graced the stage of Melboourne’s Festival Hall last night in his first ever Australian concert, the
Channel Orange star was visibly struggling as the set wore on, telling the sold out audience that he was having health issues after a month’s touring.
Industry insiders have confirmed that the singer’s second Melbourne performance tonight at Festival Hall has been cancelled, presumably so that he can recover ahead of his Sunday night headline Supertop performance at Splendour In The Grass and his forthcoming sideshows at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Monday and Tuesday.
“For anyone that has a ticket to tonight’s show.. It has unfortunately been canceled [sic].. Frank is sick!” says a source associated with the performance. Live Nation were contacted for confirmation but were unavailable at the time of publication.
UPDATE: Just hours ahead of his 2nd performance at Melbourne’s Festival Hall tonight, Live Nation Australia & New Zealand post the following status on their Facebook page.
“Regrettably we can confirm that Frank Ocean’s remaining Australian shows have been cancelled. Standby for further information
Both Ticketmaster and Festival Hall have apparently told ticketholders that they are looking into the situation regarding refunds.
Attendees at last night’s performance were already voicing concerns that the sick singer’s scheduled tour could be affected.
Eight songs deep into the set at Festival Hall last night, Ocean – sat at a rhodes organ to perform ‘Forrest Gump’ – told the audience “I’m sick… I don’t know if you care,” and as the concert wore on, he relied more on crowd sing-alongs to carry him through. “The star was visibly struggling as the set wore on, telling the sold out audience that he was having health issues after a month’s touring”
Despite his vocal performance being on point for most of the show, Ocean did leave the stage to retrieve a beverage at several points, complaining of the cold weather affecting his voice. After an hour’s worth of performing with his live band – situated behind a giant digital screen – Ocean finished with ‘Bad Religion’.
“I don’t wanna speak much tonight but I do wanna thank you guys,” said Ocean before wishing his farewells and swiftly departing the stage; the house lights came on almost instantaneously, putting an awkwardly abrupt finish to the concert without an encore.
Anticipation for 25-year-old Odd Future associate’s arrival to Australia has been at fever pitch ever since the singer cancelled his appearance for Future Music Festival last year so that he could focus on promoting his major-label debut, Channel Orange. Then in August 2012, Ocean cancelled a European Tour, as The Guardian reported, pulling the plug on festival appearances at Way Out West, Flow, Pukkelpop, V, Rock En Seine, Bestival and a nine-date Coldplay support slot with little explanation other than Ocean noting: “I feel like an asshole right now.”
In better news, Frank Ocean has revealed that he’s begun working on the follow-up to Channel Orange, which landed him two major gongs at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
Ocean revealed on the Grammys red carpet earlier this year that he’s “knee-deep in the next record. [I’m] just taking my time with it.” Later confirming, as Billboard reports, that he’s already “like 10, 11 songs” deep into his new album, working with producers Pharrell Williams and Danger Mouse.
“It’s another cohesive thing, bordering on a concept record again… At the end of Channel Orange there’s ‘Golden Girl,’ and it’s this beach scene,” explains the singer. “And I kind of want it to extend that feel into the next record all together, kind of make it that theme.”
Ocean has also expressed interest in working with Tame Impala and King Krule on his new record.
Frank Ocean Splendour 2013 Sideshows
MELBOURNE – FESTIVAL HALL, THURSDAY JULY 25 – SOLD OUT MELBOURNE – FESTIVAL HALL, FRIDAY JULY 26 – SOLD OUT SYDNEY – HORDERN PAVILION, MONDAY JULY 29 – SOLD OUT
SYDNEY – HORDERN PAVILION, TUESDAY JULY 30
Also appearing at Splendour in the Grass, Sunday July 28 – unconfirmed if this is also cancelled.
