BY TER STAFF
Last night iHeartRadio and 103.5 KISS FM brought the Jingle Ball Tour to Chicago’s Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL. With a sold out-crowd watching, some of the biggest names in music performed for the Windy City crowd on Wednesday night. Artists like Selena Gomez, Nick Jonas, 5 Seconds of Summer, Shawn Mendes, Tove Lo, Hailee Steinfeld, DNCE and (just to name a few) where there to give the packed arena a more than memorable show.
Fans did not waste any time showing up as ‘She’s Kinda Hot’ rockers, 5 Seconds of Summer kicked off the show. Soon after Chicago fans were treated to a beautiful performance from singer/songwriter Charlie Puth, who performed his Paul Walker dedicated track ‘See You Again’, as well as his Meghan Trainor collaboration, ‘Marvin Gaye’.
Next up was singer Conrad Sewell, still a new name to many, but who left a lot of concert goes impressed by his set. Known most for his single ‘Hold Me Up’, Conrad definitely held his own amongst the pop stars on the lineup. To up the energy though, Sewell was followed by newcomers DNCE, led by Joe Jonas. Out of all performances, no one met the fun energy that DNCE brought, especially during the highlight of their set when they performed their best known record, ‘Cake By The Ocean’.
Like Sewell, many may not have expected for R. City to put up one of the night’s best performances. Reminding everyone of their work with other artists, R. City told a moving story behind their Adam Levin-assisted single ‘Locked Away’, and in total put together an awesome set. Soon after R. City hopped off stage, singer Tove Lo put together a great performance of her own. While Tove Lo may be an indie artist on a pop lineup, her records have still dominated the radio, with the entire crowd knowing every word of Tove’s top tracks.
The screams may have been the loudest last night when singer Shawn Mendes hit the stage. While the singer got his initial fame through the phone app Vine, with the monster success of his single ‘Stiches’ (which can still be heard everywhere), Mendes is well on his way to becoming a household name. In the past year alone, Mendes has performed in Chicago a handful of times, including an opening set for Taylor Swift on her 1989 World Tour at Soldier Field. Then to close his set, Mendes invited Fifth Harmony’s Camila Cebello to perform their new single, ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’.
Shawn Mendes wasn’t the only Taylor Swift-associated artist on the lineup though, as next up was singer Hailee Steinfeld. You may know her from her acting (True Grit, Pitch Perfect 2) or even her appearance in T-Swift’s music video for ‘Bad Blood’, but if you don’t know her yet by her singer, you definitely will soon. Steinfeld’s record ‘I Love Myself’ is one of the funnest singles of the second half of 2015, and while she is still new to the game, you wouldn’t guess it by her stage presence.
Following Steinfeld was Fifth Harmony, as Camila Cabello returned to the stage after her huge performance with Mendes. Although Cebello and Mendes make a great team, she makes an even better one with the rest of the Fifth Harmony girls, first made famous on The X Factor. Ever since forming years ago in 2012, Fifth Harmony has consistently put out some big singles.
With the night beginning to wrap up, the energy and talent did not drop off as Selena Gomez hit the stage. Opening her set, mixing some of her new singles with the old (‘Same Old Love’ and ‘Love You Like a Love Song’), Gomez’s set was extended when compared to some of those before her, and rightfully so. While some of music’s biggest emerging names kicked off the show, it was only right that a superstar like Gomez get some extra time with the sold-out crowd.
To end the night was a headlining set from Nick Jonas. Providing a much different vibe than his brother Joe did earlier in the night, Jonas brought more than enough energy of his own, while reminding us of just how many hits he already has in his relatively young career as a solo artist. Performing a number of hits from his most recent album (his first in many years), including ‘Levels’ and ‘Chains’, Jonas certainly gave a memorable ending to the awesome night!
Check out our photos from the Jingle Ball last night in Chicago below, and if you’re anywhere near Florida, make sure you catch the tour on its last stops this week!
Continue reading Photos: iHeartRadio & 103.5 KISS FM Jingle Ball Chicago
The Early Registration 