iHeartRadio Festival A 'Stunning Accomplishment'

Jeff Beck And Steven Tyler At iHeartRadio Festival

Lots of great reviews for the iHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL held in LAS VEGAS this past weekend. 

"It's a special night because we've got so many great artists and acts performing on the same stage and they don't normally do that," said host RYAN SEACREST. "This will hopefully be the first of many big festivals we do here."

The festival served as the official launch for the "new" iHEARTRADIO. Said CLEAR CHANNEL Chairman/Media and Entertainment Platforms BOB PITTMAN, "We have the new iHEARTRADIO out, which is taking all of the radio stations you want in the country, lets you listen to them on your phone and online, and we are combining it with the ability for you to now create custom radio stations. We are creating one seamless experience -- nobody has done that -- and then we are integrating it very deep into FACEBOOK so that you can have a social experience and share with friends, pick up information from your friends and you can begin to share music and radio the way people like to do it."

ALL ACCESS President/Publisher JOEL DENVER said, "I've been to many musical events, but this was truly one of the best I've seen in years," about FRIDAY's show (NET NEWS 9/23). "While a stunning accomplishment for CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO, with this spectacular concert, the live broadcast across most CLEAR CHANNEL stations, and the iHEART site and app and XBOX 360, this is a big win for radio itself as it clearly demonstrates the medium's ability to coordinate a larger-than-life event like the iHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL and develop technology to merge a platform for live radio that also allows customized playlists. I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's show, too. Bring it on!"

SATURDAY's show elicited, "The music, the production -- everything was first-class for the iHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL on both nights. Now everyone wants to know -- will this be an annual event?"

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES described the festival, writing "the number of massive hits performed over the weekend was impressive. On FRIDAY, it ranged from THE BLACK EYED PEAS starting the event with, alas, 'Boom Boom Pow' -- to JANE'S ADDICTION doing 'Jane Says' to MARS covering MARK RONSON and AMY WINEHOUSE's 'Valerie' to COLDPLAY performing 'Clocks."'ALICIA KEYS debuted a pretty piano ballad called 'A Place of My Own,' and after JAY-Z stepped onstage and owned it with a hit-filled 40-minute set that illustrated why he's the most adept rapper in history -- he tore through '99 Problems,' 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder,' 'Big Pimpin',' 'Run This Town' -- KEYS joined him for 'Empire State of Mind.'"

"SATURDAY night's highlights included STEVEN TYLER's opening salvo, AEROSMITH's 'Sweet Emotion,' noted THE TIMES, "which he sang with JEFF BECK on guitar and STING on bass. MINAJ, as always, was a joy to watch, a wildly charismatic rapper-singer-dancer-actor-marionette who tore through a handful of her best verses and tracks and said as much with her plasticized facial expressions and darting eyes as she did with her rhymes."

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY noted it was a, "bloody fine closing of two five-hour performances that wrapped the two-day iHEARTRADIO show at a jammed GRAND GARDEN ARENA. A total of 25,000 fans turned out FRIDAY and SATURDAY nights, and an estimated 10 million accessed the show through the iHEARTRADIO website and on the KPLV 93.1-FM website. LADY GAGA capped Night 2 that also featured STEVEN TYLER, KENNY CHESNEY, NICKI MINAJ, RASCAL FLATTS, DAVID GUETTA (with a super-charged boost from USHER), NICOLE SCHERZINGER and SUBLIME With ROME."

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