Frank Ocean, XOYO, Nov 11 2011

On Friday, November 11th 2011 a small bit of history was made in east London as New Orleans resident and OFWGKTA member Frank Ocean performed in London for the first time.  In the intimate surroundings of Shoreditch's XOYO, the singer performed all his best bits from his 'Nostalgia' mixtape and also previewed a new song called "Disillusioned'.  

Tickets for the show sold out in a few days and quite a few people, The Urbanite included, paid close enough to a bill for a chance to see the show and attend the after party with other celeb Frank Ocean fans like Tim Westwood and Emeli Sande.  

Dressed in a black suit and a red bandana that obviously came off by the end of the night (the suit, not the bandana) Ocean seemed relatively surprised at the intimate nature of the venue and remarked how close fans were to the stage.  Each song that was sung was accompanied with a video that played on a giant screen at the back of the stage and, if fans weren't so enthralled by the singer, they would have noticed the random references to Dragon Ball Z and Guitar Hero on the giant screen.   

It goes without saying that Ocean did not fail to impress and had the crowd in the palm of his hand from his first track until closing the show, with a rendition of 'Strawberry String'.  A few technical issues threatened to spoil the show, namely the fact that the backing vocals were so loud, but the most memorable moment of the night came during 'Swim Good', when the 800 strong crowd finished off the song at the end with a chorus of their own (this even got applause from Ocean himself).  

Below are videos of the best talking points of the night: performances of 'American Wedding', 'Novacane', 'Songs for Women' and, exceptionally, new single 'Disillusioned'.

Enjoy!

American Wedding

Novacane

Songs for Women

Disillusioned