Having delivered one of 2014’s best pop albums with My Everything, Ariana Grande brought her debut world tour to London’s O2 Arena last night for the first of four UK dates. She opened up with an audacious solo rendition of Bang Bang, her chart-topping Jessie J/Nicki Minaj collaboration, in which she not only belts out Jessie J’s parts, but also raps along to Minaj’s feisty rhymes. Grande then splits her 18-song set between My Everything‘s slinky pop-R&B tunes and a handful of throwback jams from her underrated 2013 debut Yours Truly, all of which are lapped up by her “Arianators”, or hardcore fans, who show their devotion tonight by wearing light-up cat ears.
When Grande busted out some suggestive dance moves during an awards show performance last year, one of her fellow female pop stars was apparently caught on camera sniggering at her, but tonight she delivers a series of slick routines without a hitch, strutting up and down the stage in her signature thigh-high boots. She’s supported by a troupe of well-drilled backing dancers and a few arena-sized props. She sings her sultry Big Sean hook-up Best Mistake from atop a mechanical cloud that floats high over the arena floor, then arrives on stage to perform Right Here inside a giant chandelier.
On the show’s evidence, 21-year-old Grande is an increasingly confident all-round performer, but it’s still her massive voice that sets her apart from other pop upstarts. During a thrilling final stretch that includes her recent hits Problem, Break Free and Love Me Harder, plus her brilliantly deranged Major Lazer collaboration All My Love, her singing is so pure, powerful and infectious, it’s easy to imagine coming to her next gig wearing a pair of light-up cat ears.