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Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 | 2 a.m.<\/p>\n
Radio and TV personality Ryan Seacrest, who served as emcee for last weekend\u2019s iHeartRadio Music Festival, opened the second edition of the two-night festival by promising a \u201cone-of-a-kind\u201d show to those attending Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.<\/p>\n
While the ensuing four and a half hours easily delivered on Seacrest\u2019s vow, a more apt promise could have been \u201csomething for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Saturday night\u2019s lineup included pop from the New Kids on the Block and Halsey; Doja Cat and Big Sean\u2019s takes on hip-hop and rap; pop-influenced country offerings from Keith Urban; a lively set of R&B, pop and soul selections performed by Victoria Mon\u00e9t; Hozier represented the alt-rock\/indie industry; Coldplay\u2019s Chris Martin wowed the crowd with post-Britpop melodies; and The Weeknd\u2019s set packaged his brand of R&B, new wave and alt-pop.<\/p>\n
And in their own way, each was outstanding.<\/p>\n
New Kids on the Block, the boy band that rose to fame in the mid-1980s, opened the show. A day after they announced their first Las Vegas residency (June 20-July\u00a05 and Nov.\u00a01-15, 2025 at Park MGM), band members Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood took the crowd back to 1988 with their hit \u201cYou Got It (The Right Stuff).\u201d A little longer in the tooth than they were 40 years ago, the \u201ckids\u201d still glided across the stage with crowd-pleasing choreographed moves. Just before their set ended, Wahlberg thanked the audience for their help in NKOTB getting their first top-20 chart hit in 20 years, \u201cKids,\u201d which they performed with guest artist and uber U.S. women\u2019s water polo team fan Flavor Flav as their walk-off.<\/p>\n
It was the start of a night filled with memorable moments. Among the biggest was when Martin, appearing without his Coldplay bandmates, took to the stage. He mesmerized the now-standing crowd playing an acoustic guitar and singing an abbreviated version of the 2014 hit, \u201cA Sky Full of Stars.\u201d Next up, Martin traded his guitar and took a seat at a piano for \u201cHymn for the Weekend,\u201d and a cover of the Chainsmokers\u2019 \u201cSomething Just Like This,\u201d a song that led Martin to graciously tell the crowd, \u201cI can\u2019t sing it very well; you sing it better than me.\u201d He then returned to Coldplay\u2019s catalog, singing \u201cViva La Vida\u201d while playing the acoustic guitar, and a piano-backed rendition of \u201cYellow\u201dthat absolutely captivated the arena. For his finale, Martin brought out Palestinian-Chilean singer-songwriter Elyanna to add vocals to \u201cWe Pray,\u201d which Coldplay released last month and will be released as a single on their upcoming album, \u201cMoon Music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other standouts from the night included Doja Cat, who enticed the crowd dancing and twerking to several of her pop anthems, \u201cWYM Freestyle,\u201d \u201cDemons,\u201d \u201cNeed to Know\u201d and \u201cPaint the Town Red.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irish singer-songwriter Hozier, backed by his full band, rocked the night with his set that included his newest hit \u201cToo Sweet,\u201d and his debut single from 2014, \u201cTake Me to Church,\u201d a song that was punctuated with special effect-lighting that appeared to set the stage ablaze.<\/p>\n
Urban, who begins a five-night residency Oct. 5 at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, performed three songs \u2014 \u201cMessed Up As Me,\u201d \u201cStraight Line\u201d and \u201cWildside\u201d \u2014 from \u201cHigh,\u201d an album he released Friday. The talented guitarist also sang a pair of hits from his 2016 album, \u201cRipcord\u201d: \u201cBlue Ain\u2019t Your Color\u201d and \u201cWasted Time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Halsey, whose live-performance schedule has taken a backseat the past couple of years while plagued by a form of lupus and a rare T-cell disorder, performed a set that included \u201cNightmare,\u201d \u201cYou Should Be Sad,\u201d and \u201cCloser.\u201d In an emotional conversation with the audience, Halsey admitted their love of performing, saying, \u201cI fought my way through a very long hell to be on this stage right now. It just hits different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Big Sean was emotional for a different reason. The hip-hop artist\u2019s father was in the arena for the evening, and in addition to giving a shoutout to his father, Big Sean also dedicated \u201cOn Up,\u201d from his new album \u201cBetter Me Than You,\u201d to his year-old son. The audience joined in with him on hits including \u201cMy Last,\u201d \u201cDance (A$$)\u201d and \u201cBounce Back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victoria Mon\u00e9t\u2019s \u201cJaguar\u201d series was the exclusive focus of the Atlanta songstress\u2019 set. She began her high-energy, dance-filled set with \u201cAlright\u201d and \u201cCadillac (A Pimp\u2019s Anthem)\u201d from her \u201cJaguar II\u201d album, then segued to three songs from \u201cJaguar,\u201d \u201cAss Like That,\u201d \u201cWe Might Even Be Falling in Love,\u201d and the title track before closing out with \u201cOn My Mama,\u201d from \u201cJaguar II.\u201d<\/p>\n
But in a night filled with shining moments and over-the-top performances, none came close to the finale served up by The Weeknd. Standing atop a multitiered, wedding cake-like mise-en-sc\u00e8ne, with a legion of at least 60 dancers clad in red veils and red bodysuits below his perch, The Weeknd delivered a feverish set introduced by his new single, \u201cDancing in the Flames.\u201d Dressed in an elaborate hooded robe, motioning from above the spectacle as if he were a high priest and backed by a dazzling light show, the artist followed up with \u201cTake My Breath,\u201d \u201cSacrifice\u201d and his 2020 megahit, \u201cSave Your Tears.\u201d The Canadian-born superstar ended the night with \u201cS\u00e3o Paulo,\u201d \u201cBlinding Lights\u201d and a reprise of \u201cDancing In The Flames.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reports were just as ebullient from the Friday night edition of the music festival, with performances by the Black Crowes, Camila Cabello, Gwen Stefani, Thomas Rhett, Shaboozey, Paramore and Dua Lipa.<\/p>\n
Celebrating its 14th year in Las Vegas, the iHeartRadio Music Festival, the \u201cbiggest multigenre musical event anywhere,\u201d lived up to its billing.<\/p>\n
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