Jingle Ball Jumps into your Heart

Photo+from+the+2017+Jingle+Ball+Concert+

Jenna Lulling

Photo from the 2017 Jingle Ball Concert

Jingle Ball was held on Dec. 5 at the Xcel Energy Center. This year’s lineup consisted of many top pop performers including Charlie Puth, Kesha, Niall Horan and Halsey. Upon arrival at the Xcel Energy Center concert goers could see trees lit with shining lights and glorious winter decorations.  

The doors opened at 6:30 pm, with the concert starting at 7:30 that evening; there were many people standing outside the doors in the whipping wind as early as 5:45 pm. If the ticket buyers weren’t out in the wind, waiting for the blood pumping music inside, they were most likely enjoying local food and drinks at restaurants and pubs, which were conveniently located around the block of the Xcel Energy Center.

As everyone rushed into the doors, they were greeted with the opportunity to buy Jingle Ball ‘swag’. There were many clothing options such as long and short sleeved t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats. The price of the wear ranged from $35 to $60.

After everyone gathered into their seats, they were greeted with a song from the pop boyband Why Don’t We. This group of five gentlemen shook up the entrance by appearing out of individual ‘pods.’ They preformed four songs, their second entitled “Something Different.”

The first act was followed by Sabrina Carpenter’s song, “Thumbs.” She was interactive with the crowd, asking them, “How are you all doing tonight?” Carpenter’s songs had a beat that encouraged people to jump up and dance.

Liam Payne and Camila Cabello were the next two artists that got the crowd to lose their voices. After Payne performed his hit song, “Bedroom Floor,” Cabello gave the audience a look into her next album, which will be released soon.

“You all have exclusive song privilege,” Cabello said, before she performed her unreleased song.

Dave Ryan, a radio host from KDWB, introduced Charlie Puth and Kesha as the next artists to perform. Puth played at the 2016 Jingle Ball, but he brought a whole new experience with him this year. Puth gave the crowd a little insight into his journey writing the song “See You Again.” He revealed that it took him a total of ten minutes to write the song, which is featured in Fast and Furious 7 as a tribute to the late Paul Walker.

Kesha brought powerful dance moves that inspired the audience to throw their hands and bodies up out of their chairs and dance. Throughout her performance of six songs, two of which were her older songs, two of her guitarists had a guitar battle. The guitarists both raised an even mix of excitement from the crowd, making it difficult to choose the winner.

Following Kesha was Halsey. She started her portion of the concert off with the song “Bad At Love,” which was released earlier this year. Halsey was the first artist to bring fire to the stage, which electrified the crowd. She surprised the audience by bringing G-Eazy out on stage, who was not on the beginning line up. This surprise lit the crowd with immense joy.

The second to last artist of the evening was Niall Horan. He used his skills on the guitar, which kept the crowd electrified throughout his entire performance. One of his top songs, “Too Much To Ask,” brought everyone to their feet to dance and sing along.

The closing band, Fall Out Boy, started their portion off with “Sugar, We’re Goin Down.” Their appearance on stage gave the audience what seemed like a new set of lungs. It seemed as if everyone got a new burst of life as the band continued their performance with “Hold Me Tight, Or Don’t.” The spectacular night was ended by Fall Out Boy’s 2015 song, “Uma Thurman.”