Their voices, as overpowering as thousands of voices can be, couldn’t even make a dent in the strength of Ocean’s emanating voice to my ears, he hit every note all night, never trying to hide behind effects or reverb, completely unafraid to sound like himself.

Many of these people were in the crowd, it would seem). Though Frank opened the show with his understated, sterling Sade cover “By Your Side”, he used that piece to build off of, driving that more minimal acoustic setup toward fuller arrangements like “Thinking About You” and “Sweet Life.” You could feel this wave of adrenaline in the crowd - my stars, the crowd at this show - latched on to “Thinking About You,” screaming every lyric, which was pretty much the way it went for every single Channel Orange cut throughout the night (seriously, people screamed themselves hoarse at Terminal 5 last night. Last night’s show proved that the question is no longer “Will Frank Ocean be a star?” It’s now about the amazing things he can do now that he is one. However, last night’s show bore all the trappings of a star’s look, from the towering prowess of Ocean’s live band down to the thoughtful, climactic setlist. The Bowery show, to be sure, radiated signs of the talent promised by Nostalgia, Ultra, but it also seemed a little bit like a dress rehearsal after all, since Ocean was submerged for so many years, he owed it to himself to try to figure out the live performance, and you know, maybe get in some on-stage Guitar Hero. Though Frank Ocean has performed in New York before, those shows were lesser moments, by design to date, he’s appeared on stage with Odd Future and performed a lone solo show at Bowery Ballroom in November.

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