Vegas Hearts iHeartRadio Music Fest
• The 8th annual iHeartRadio Music Festival is now in the books, and by all accounts, it was another major success. The festivities, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, kicked off Friday evening at T-Mobile Arena with your Macy’s iHeartRadio Rising Star winner, Heffron Drive, leading right into the reformulated Fleetwood Mac, featuring new members Neil Finnand Mike Campbell. They were followed by Childish Gambino (a.k.a. actor Donald Glover), Jack White, Rae Sremmurd, Panic! At The Disco, Jason Aldean, and the legendary Mariah Carey, who has been “in residence” just up the street at Caesar’s Palace. EDM star Kygo closed out the night. The only setback to this otherwise flawless production was the last-minute cancellation of Sam Smith due to what was described as “a vocal emergency.” Variety reports Smith was flown to his vocal doctor in Boston later that evening. On Saturday afternoon, Smith tweeted a photo of himself in his doctor’s office, looking relieved, with a message apologizing for missing the performance, stating, “everything is luckily ok but I need to rest [his voice] in preparation for the start of Asia tour,” which launches in Singapore on Oct. 2.
On Saturday afternoon, several thousand fans braved the midday Vegas heat and reported to the Daytime Stage venue at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds to enjoy sets by Logic, Dua Lipa, 5SOS, Lil Uzi Vert, Dustin Lynch, Bazzi, Belly, Bobby Bones and The Raging Idiots, Greta Van Fleet, Bad Bunny, Grandson, Leon Bridges, MAX, Badflower, The Vamps, Drax Project and Evvie, the winner of Fox’s The Four: Battle For Stardom and iHeartMedia’s “On The Verge” artist.
Mr. Justin Timberlake opened Night Two of the iHeartRadio Music Festival on Saturday evening, and was followed by Carrie Underwood, Shawn Mendes, Luke Bryan, Kelly Clarkson and Classic Rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd, who obliged with a medley of their hits, closing, naturally, with an extended version of “Free Bird.” You’re welcome, America. Las Vegas’ own Imagine Dragons took the stage next, and Logic (with special guest Ryan Tedder) closed out the evening.
Elvis Duran hosted a live backstage broadcast each night that aired in over 150 markets, and fellow iHeart personalities Big Boy, Bobby Bones, Woody and the cast of The Breakfast Club — Angela Yee, DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God were also prominently showcased. Angi Taylor from WKSC (103.5 Kiss FM)/Chicago was the backstage announcer during The CW’s nightly livestream and she will be enjoyed again during the upcoming two-night CW special on October 7 & 8 from 8-10pm ET/PT.
