This past weekend, KIIS FM held their star-studded annual celebration, Jingle Ball. The sold-out concert, which took place in Los Angeles at The Forum, had a laundry list of the most popular acts in music today performing like Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, the Chainsmokers, Demi Lovato, Kesha and many others. We were on the frontlines of one of the biggest one-day concerts of the year and have all the surprises and highlights to share.
So, this is was a big surprise, but Spotify’s most streamed artist in 2017, Ed Sheeran, actually kicked off the night. If this guy is starting the show, you know there are plenty of surprises ahead. The Grammy winner got the evening rolling off strong with “Castle on the Hill,” from his Divide album. The “Perfect” singer busted the acoustic guitar for both “Thinking Out Loud” and “Shape of You,” with the latter wrapping up his brief, but exciting set.
Singer-songwriter Halsey conveyed one of the strongest performances of the evening with songs like “Now or Never” and “Colors”. She had Lauren Jauregui of Fifth Harmony join her on stage for “Strangers,” their joint effort off of Halsey’s latest album, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom. The electro-pop singer returned to stage later in the night to perform “Closer” with the Chainsmokers, in what was the penultimate set of the concert. Another strong female performer was Kesha, who was joined by a horn section and large backing band for her retro jam “Woman” and then for her potent ballad “Praying,” a deeply personal song for the singer, shedding light on her emotional and public battles this past year. Things livened up when she brought out her latest collaborator, Macklemore, for their joint song, “Good Ole Days.”
Keep in mind, most artists had a limited window to play their material, but no one wasted a single second on stage. Singer Charlie Puth performed a raw rendition of his single, "Attention,” which will be on his forthcoming 2018 album, Voice Notes. The Thursday before the show marked the four-year anniversary of Paul Walker’s death, but Charlie Puth got the crowd emotional by closing with “See You Again,” the track written as a Fast & Furious send-off for the late actor. Puth even got into the holiday spirit, offering up a classic cover of "This Is Christmas."
Not to be out done by Kesha or Halsey, Demi Lovato had her own spotlight when she brought out Cheat Codes for their combined track “No Promises.” She went on to play her hits like "Tell Me You Love Me” and “Sorry Not Sorry,” as yet another noticeably strong female showcase. Before Taylor Swift was to come out, The Chainsmokers delivered their raucous seven-song set, which included the Chris Martin-less “Something Just Like This,” and bringing out singer/songwriter Emily Warren for “Don’t Let Me Down.”
As the night approached its end, it was time for the biggest popstar to come onto stage. In what was her first post-Reputation concert, Swift began the night with “...Ready for It?” The tune was played with images of the snake from her viral marketing campaign in the background. For her next two tracks, she was surrounded by dancers for “Blank Space” and “Shake It Off.” After all the excitement, she settled the crowd down with an acoustic version of her 2017 electro-pop song, “I Don’t Want to Live Forever," which she recorded with former One Direction member Zayn Malik (who sadly wasn’t there to perform it with her). For her fifth song of the night, it was back to her Reputation album with “End Game.” What made this one special, which took place four hours after the show began, was the return of everyone’s favorite redhead, Ed Sheeran, coming onto stage to perform with the singer. Swift closed out her six-song set with the live debut of “Look What You Made Me Do,” before she gave the final farewell of the night to the electric KIIS-FM Jingle Ball crowd.
To catch the artists listed above on tour, visit Live Nation.
Check out the artists' setlists from KIIS-FM's Jingle Ball here.
See more photos on Setlist.fm's Instagram and Twitter pages.
