Since 1998, KIIS FM’s Wango Tango has been the biggest night in pop music, giving fans a chance to see 10-14 of their favorite Top 40 artists on a single stage. Think Mariah Carey, the Spice…
Since 1998, KIIS FM’s Wango Tango has been the biggest night in pop music, giving fans a chance to see 10-14 of their favorite Top 40 artists on a single stage. Think Mariah Carey, the Spice Girls and *NSYNC all on one bill — or Britney Spears, Nelly Furtado and Pink. It’s a mega-screen, pyrotechnic-filled, super-concert sprinkled with appearances by B-level celebrity guests and KIIS FM radio personalities. In other words, it’s pop-heaven, and the super-lineup that hit the stage of the sold-out StubHub Center in Carson on Saturday — including Katy Perry, Machine Gun Kelly, and Zedd — did not disappoint. The sun was shining, the music was loud, and the party didn’ t stop until well into the night.
Here are some highlights.
While waiting for the StubHub doors to open at 4, attendees were free to wander Wango Village, a pop-up area featuring a giant Ferris wheel, food trucks, games and sponsor booths filled with free stuff. Some of the swag up for grabs included Coca Cola sunglasses, Fujifilm Instax backpacks, technicolored Otter Pop merch and even a few Chevy cars. The village also had its own stage, treating fans to free performances by Aaron Carter, Olivia Holt, Jordan Fisher and more.
With the event taking place on the eve of Mother’s Day, it was only right that the night was filled with nods to everyone’s mama. After Katy Perry’s opening set, Ryan Seacrest brought out his mom, explaining that it was her first Wango Tango and adorably high-fiving her after she introduced Noah Cyrus. Cyrus concluded her set by bringing mother Tish onstage to celebrate her birthday. Big sis Miley rolled out a birthday cake, and all of StubHub — significantly made up of tweens and youngsters with their own moms — joined in on “Happy Birthday.”
“Rock Bottom” songstress Hailee Steinfeld took to the stage in disguise, blending in with her dancers in a hooded jacket that concealed her face. The audience loved her big reveal, but as soon as the hood came off, the music stopped. A confused Seinfeld looked around desperately before resignedly saying, “I guess this stuff happens sometimes.” Poor Steinfeld continued to have issues, struggling with her mic pack during “Starving” and getting her jacket stuck as she tried to take it off after “You’ re Such A.” With the crowd behind her, she managed to recover well, rallying with confident renditions of “Love Myself” and “Most Girls.”
Niall Horan received the highest-pitched screams and performed one of the mellowest sets, playing a quiet cover of the Martin Garrix/Dua Lipa song “Scared to Be Lonely, ” a dancey, Maroon 5-esque song off his upcoming album, “On the Loose, ” and his sexy new single, “Slow Hands.” Taking in Horan’s performance was his One Direction band mate, Liam Payne, whose unscheduled appearance during a between-sets interview sent a shockwave through the audience — the thought of one-half of the Zayn-less One Direction being under one roof was too much for the crowd to handle. Payne explained that he was there to see Horan as well as Zedd, whom he collaborated with for his upcoming album.
Miley Cyrus took to the stage as a special guest, playing an abbreviated set of three songs, including the balloon-filled, first-ever performance of her breezy new single, “Malibu.” Cyrus’ radically toned-down appearance — as well as her decision to cover Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” as she tossed flowers to the crowd out of a very country-looking basket — served as a full display of the stylistic 180 she’s making with her new music. She looked genuinely happy to be going back to her roots, giving one of the most enjoyable performances of the evening.
Adam Levine and company showed their Wango Tango veteran status with an expertly executed set packed with hits. “Don’ t Wanna Know, ” “Moves Like Jagger, ” “This Love, ” “Harder to Breathe” and a particularly infectious performance of “Sugar” got the whole StubHub audience on its feet — but it was their cover of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” that stole the show. Levine deftly handled the holy pulpit opening as well as the guitar theatrics, bringing his axe out onto the runway to shred. The crowd ate it up — with all the “Voice”-watching moms giving the loudest shrieks of approval.
Closing out the night was a blast from the boy-band past. The Backstreet Boys hadn’ t been on the Wango Tango stage since 2001, but that didn’ t stop them from stealing the show with classics like “Larger Than Life, ” “The Call” and “As Long As You Love Me.” Folding-chair dancing that was straight out of 2001? Check. Matching white outfits whose subtle differences showed off each guy’s personality? Got it. Palpable waves of butterfly-clip, flip-phone nostalgia hitting the crowd during “I Want It That Way?” You better believe it. People started to trickle out — mostly parents with children who weren’ t even born when the Backstreet Boys were on the radio — but those who stayed were treated to a good-old-fashioned display of POP. Backstreet’s back. All right!
Where: StubHub Center, Carson When: May 13
