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iHeartRadio Music Festival 2013 Rocks It On Friday Night; No Drama, Nothing But Great Music
MGM Grand Garden Arena Packed With Fans
September 21, 2013 at 11:49 AM (PT)
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Another big cross-platform win for CLEAR CHANNEL MEDIA + ENTERTAINMENT as iHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL 2013 shows that this company knows how to put on a really big show, with all of the fun and great music fans expected at the MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA on FRIDAY (9/20), while enganging listeners in-person and across station sites and on iHEARTRADIO.COM as well as PLAYSTATION and YAHOO.
While full of new music, the first night had a definite "old school" flavor to it as the evening progressed with an all-star lineup.
MACY'S iHEARTRADIO "RISING STAR" winners THE SUMMER SET got things rolling in a pre-show set with "Lighting In A Bottle" and then their hit "Boomerang." And then a quick segue into ROBIN THICKE who warmed up everyone with his record-setting #1 song "Blurred Lines," and a slice of skin during a brief, but not controversial, wardrobe malfunction -- thanks to a lost button on his shirt.
THE SUMMER SET and ROBIN THICKE was a great musical lead-in with a spectacular visual countdown to the official kickoff of iHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL 2013 with KIIS-FM/LOS ANGELES and syndicated morning man and iHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL 2013 host RYAN SEACREST.
Non-Stop Entertainment For Six Hours
FUN. was up next and got the crowd going with their anthemic brand of music including the hits "Carry On," "We Are Young," and exciting rendition of THE ROLLING STONES' classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want," in which lead singer NATE REUSS encouraged audience participation, and then the set closed with "Some Nights."
KEITH URBAN performed a knockout set of songs that kept the energy level strong with fans, and of course included his recent chart-topper "Little Bit Of Everything."
ASHLEY GREENE and STEPHEN AMELL introduced MUSE who rocked the house with an aggressive and thrilling set which included "Supermassive Black Hole," "Panic Station," "Uprising," and "Madness."
TIESTO took to the far stage for a live mix set of some of the hottest EDM music out today. TIESTO is no stranger to LAS VEGAS with a residency at HAKKASAN at the MGM GRAND.
J. COLE took the stage next working up his fans and making many new fans with a strong performance and welcomed MIGUEL for their duet "Power Trip" and TLC to the stage for "Crooked Smile."
Old School Wowsers -- All Hail Elton John, Queen & Adam Lambert
One of the musical highlights was the performance of SIR ELTON JOHN who wowed the house by starting his set with "The Bitch Is Back" wailing on a big red grand piano as fans of all ages rocked out. Next up was "Benny & The Jets" which continued the tempo and fun. ELTON then slowed it down with a big fan fave "Tiny Dancer." He then played his new single "Diving Board," wrapping his set with "I'm Still Standing," to a standing ovation.
JASON DERULO introduced BENNY BENASSI and his driving beats and well sung vocals and lasers kept the crowd moving.
Next up CHRIS BROWN delivered a powerful set of songs filled with fan favorites like "Fine China" and an energetic set of dance moves.
Then WHTZ (Z100)/NEW YORK and syndicated morning star ELVIS DURAN introduced YLVIS from NORWAY and their viral hit "The Fox," which is fast closing in on 50 million views. They performed in-costume to a big response.
KATE HUDSON came out and introduced KATY PERRY who was dressed in halter top and shorts with hair done in twin buns. She immediately got the audience going with "I Kissed A Girl" her first hit song. She then went into her next single "Dark Horse" featuring JUICY J.
Then, an energetic performance of "Part Of Me" followed with a nice segue into "Wide Awake."
KATY mentioned her new album "Prism" coming out on OCTOBER 22, but promised a lot of her hits and launched into "California Gurls" which morphed into "Teenage Dream." Then KATY dazzled the crowd with "Fireworks" and ended a terrific set with her latest #1 song "Roar."
The night ended with QUEEN and ADAM LAMBERT introduced by KBIG (1043 MY FM)/LOS ANGELES night personality and syndicated radio and TV star MARIO LOPEZ. The first song was "Bohemian Rhapsody" and if you didn't know it was ADAM you'd swear it was FREDDY MERCURY that was singing. The playing was amazing.
Among the other songs in this QUEEN retro set: "Another One Bites The Dust," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Who Wants To Live Forever," "Somebody to Love" with FUN.," "Fat Bottomed Girls," "Dragon Attack," "Bohemian Rhapsody (reprised), ""We Will Rock You," and the show closed with "We Are The Champions."
Saturday's Daytime And Nighttime Lineups
For the first time there are SATURDAY daytime performances featuring MILEY CYRUS, JASON DERULO, THE WANTED, THE BAND PERRY, AVRIL LAVIGNE, KREWELLA, twenty one pilots, PETE TONG, CHER LLOYD, AWOLNATION and DJ OBSCENE as well as a special guest appearance by NE-YO, over at the new 15-acre VILLAGE opposite LUXOR.
Back at the MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA, the show begins at 7p with this terrific lineup:
* JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
* PAUL MCCARTNEY
* DRAKE
* MILEY CYRUS
* TIM MCGRAW
* BRUNO MARS
* MAROON 5
* PHOENIX
* KE$HA
* MIGUEL
* ZEDD
* THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS