iHeartRadio and 103.5 Kiss FM‘s “Jingle Ball” is only a couple weeks away but we are already excited! With performances from Selena Gomez, Nick Jonas, 5 Seconds of Summer, Tove Lo, Shawn Mendes, 5th Harmony, Hailee Steinfeld, DNCE and many more, Chicago’s Allstate Arena in Rosement is the place to be next month. The stacked lineup will take place on Wednesday, December 16th and even if you aren’t in the Chicago area, there is a good chance that iHeartRadio is bringing one of their Jingle Balls to a city near you.
Hit the jump and check out our list of the 10 songs that we need to hear at this year’s Jingle Ball, and if you haven’t yet, get your tickets now while you still can!
One of Lollapalooza’s stand out performances this year was from Swedish singer/songwriter Tove Lo. And while everyone wants to talk body with one of pop’s biggest rising stars, we wanted to talk music festivals. So a day after her huge performance in Chicago for Lollapalooza, we sat down with the ‘Talking Body’ singer to talk about her recent festival performances and some of her favorite moments at music festivals.
Friday of Lollapalooza this year, before fans were treated to headlining performances from Paul McCartney and The Weekend, festival goers rushed (or sprinted if you will) to the Sprint Stage see to Tove Lo perform some of her biggest tracks from her 2014 Queen of the Clouds album. After we congratulated her on the great set, we asked Tove Lo about her weekend at Lolla. “I think it’s awesome!” she told us. “I love the whole set up here. You have this big nature park and then you just see all the skyscrapers around, it’s so cool.” And while Tove was busy in Chicago with her Lolla set, as well as performing one of the festival’s official aftershows, she still found time to take it all it and enjoy the fest. “I watched The Weeknd yesterday… So amazing. Great acts playing and I love my set. So far it’s been awesome.” Next on her schedule of acts to see were Banks, Chet Faker, Sam Smith, Alesso, and more that she couldn’t remember. “I have my little map (of acts to see),” she laughed.
Performing two different types of shows during the weekend of Lollapalooza, the festival crowd and her own crowd during a intimate club performance in Chicago, we asked Tove how she compares the two experiences. “It’s one thing when you’re in a club and it’s only your audience, and they know every word, you’re sweating, and it’s intense,” she told us.
“But there’s something about festivals, just the whole vibe, just being in the presence of so many creative people.”
Festivals not only help keep the lights on for these performers but they also give artists a place to meet some of their musical peers. “You kind of become friends with the people you are playing the same festivals as. You see each other again, you get to hang out, you get to see each other play.” This time around, Tove Lo certainly made friends, as a number of Lollapalooza’s artists also shared a festival bill with Tove Lo at Bonnaroo this year, Tove Lo’s biggest show to date. “It was great, it was night time and it was the biggest crowd I’ve ever had.” Still loving her time at Lollapalooza, Tove Lo credits Bonnaroo as her favorite festival moment as a performer. “Maybe I shouldn’t say that here,” she joked. “It was really emotional that day, everything was just perfect.”
Not only enjoying festivals as an artist, Tove Lo likes to enjoy festivals as a fan as well. “As a goer (my favorite moment) was when I saw Stromae at Coachella this year. It was the best live show I’ve ever seen, he was just incredible. You could really feel every person in the audience watching his every move, it was great!” And while Stromae is Tove Lo’s favorite live performer, likely one of your favorite artists is a huge fan of Tove Lo’s live performances. Seeing her live twice this year (Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza), her festival performances always rank as one of the best that year. This Swedish pop star is taking over America’s radio waves and the festival circuit, and rightfully so, no one has a problem with it.
One of our favorite things about Lollapalooza is its aftershows. The aftershows not only allow fans who weren’t able to score wristbands to the actual festival to also see some great sets, but it showcases the beautiful intimate local venues (Aragon, The Mid, The Riviera and more) of our nation’s Second City, Chicago. This year’s Lollapalooza Aftershows are just as great as ever, with a number of performances that we recommend catching. Performing official Lollapalooza Aftershows this year are Alesso, Tove Lo, Gary Clark Jr., The War on Drugs, Glass Animals, alt-J, SZA, Mick Jenkins, Marina and the Diamonds, Logic and many more!
The Early Registration 