Starting at 10:30 am, a crowd full of youngsters dressed in what resembled Urban Outfitters attire stretched along V Street. By 6:30 pm, the line wrapped well around the corner onto 8th Street. Passer-bys stared at the crowd of modern-day hipsters anxiously waiting outside the 9:30 Club and asked, “What’s going on?”
Frank Ocean is what’s going on. As a disclaimer, I am a Frank Ocean fan so what follows may be biased. After being the media’s center of attention, digitally releasing an album a week earlier than expected and having his album hit #2 on the charts without even having a radio single released, the commotion over the Odd Future member has swelled more than ever before.
The stage was set with two pianos, two guitars, a drum set and six monitors (staying true to the channel ORANGE theme of course). The house was filled when the 6-foot-2 singer walked onto the stage at around 9 pm. His posture was poor, slouchy even as he sat upon a stool and greeted the crowd in a graphic tee, unbuttoned button-down shirt and his signature bandana that has become just as important to him as his microphone during a performance.
Though his demeanor was laid back, his performance was commanding. He began with “When You Were Mine” and ended the song with a sweet and humble “thank you.” Frank executed every set dynamically without missing a note and made a habit of giving the audience a simple “thank you” afterward. He performed songs from both channel ORANGE and Nostalgia, Ultra., including “Sweet Life”, “Bad Religion”, “Swim Good”, and the entire ten minutes of the epic track “Pyramids.” He even snuck in the chorus to his Watch The Throne feature, “Made In America.”
To find a singer who can captivate his audience in the manner that Frank Ocean did at the 9:30 Club isn’t uncommon. What is uncommon, however, is that Frank Ocean isn’t even mainstream but he is still getting this kind of response from an audience. What is uncommon is that Frank can be considered unorthodox (not just in being open about his sexuality but his actions in general) and still hit #2 on the charts (without Target). What is uncommon is that he gives his appreciation to his fans in intervals of five minutes each when his fans should be thanking him for displaying such raw, unprecedented emotion through his vocals, his facials and his motions on stage.
So I say to you Mr. Frank Ocean, thank you for sharing your story with us. Thank you for allowing yourself to be vulnerable in your songs for our ears’ pleasure. Thank you for touching our hearts with your performance. Thank you, Frank Ocean.
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