Hundreds of Coachella fans try buying Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ vinyl, only one for sale

The gates into the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival opened just after noon Friday, and Frank Ocean fan Jamie Reina was ready to run.

“It was like a medieval battle,” the San Diego resident said. “Mass pandemonium. We were all looking for the same thing.”

Reina and several hundred fans rushed to a far corner of the festival, past the Bad Bunny installation with Adidas, to line up outside a white tent for the Record Safari. The Los Angeles shop holds a special record sale each year at Coachella, and this time there was a coveted gem on offer for crate-diggers: a rare vinyl LP of Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” album.

The horde of fans formed a line that coiled around the entrance to the shop. When the doors opened, it took only a few minutes for the word to travel: There was just a single copy of the record for sale. Fans shuffled out of the shop in dismay and anger.

“When I found out, I was devastated,” Reina said. “I’m absolutely crushed.”

According to exit-door security guard Antek Gutierez, the moment the doors opened was a frenzy.

“It looked like an Easter egg hunt,” Gutierez said. “One guy swooped in and grabbed it off the wall.”

The fortunate fan is Daniel Neveh of Palm Springs. He told SFGATE that he ran as fast as he could to reach the Record Safari upon entering the festival, and ended up being the first in line. After plucking the album off the wall, he paid $800 for it. 

Neveh elected to pay an extra $10 for the Record Safari to hold the album; he’ll pick it up later. “I don’t want to get stabbed,” he said, in jest, keeping a low profile in the crowd. The record collector also picked up an album by Maxwell and was eyeing another one by Tracy Chapman. 

Behind the counter, the Record Safari curator Alex Rodriguez fielded questions from customers. He said that the used copy of “Blonde” was set aside specifically for Coachella. He noted that the store never promoted that there were multiple copies for sale and that this was a misconception. He said he made a TikTok to inform fans that there was only a single copy.

Leading up to the festival, there was speculation that the hard-to-find album would be for sale at the Record Safari tent. Ocean is set to perform on Sunday and is known for releasing his physical music on a whim. Last November, the elusive singer-songwriter released the album for 24 hours on his website in a surprise drop. Some resellers ask for as much as $799 for the album.

A week before the festival, Coachella released a video to promote the Record Safari, and in the video clip there was a glimpse of “Blonde” — the ultra rare Black Friday edition of the record, nonetheless. 

Online blog Hypebeast wrote about the record’s rumored availability at the festival, and that’s how Reina heard about it. He said it was a “smart marketing ploy” from the record shop to play off the frenzy. 

As fans shuffled out with visible disappointment, Gutierez held the door for the empty-handed customers. “There’s a lot of sad faces,” he said. “That’s what happens with word of mouth.”