‘Violent Fairy Pop Core’ reads the block-capitals slogan emblazoned across Ariana Grande’s new, hardcore-inspired merch line. It appears to be the singer’s personal embodiment of the sound and aesthetic of her latest LP, Petal, which arrived last month (July 29) and feels like a distillation of the music itself: equally ethereal and defiant, with guitar-driven, lightly abrasive sounds propelling themes of femininity, freedom and contending with life in the public eye.
In the fortnight since it dropped, Petal has topped both the Official U.K. Albums Chart and the Billboard 200, with Grande scoring her best single-week performance of the 2020s thus far on the latter. All 12 songs from the album landed in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40, while the newly-released video for its title track has also sparked intense online discourse about the singer’s physical appearance. The conversation has, at times, threatened to eclipse the contents of a project that is already preoccupied with the pressures of visibility.
Suffice to say, then, that Grande arrives in London at a charged moment. It makes for a particularly intriguing juncture in the wider Petal campaign, which has had a notably darker, disillusioned and more confrontational feel across its lyrics and imagery compared to the singer’s previous output — particularly given that, earlier in the month (Aug. 2), her representatives confirmed she is set to take a hiatus once these shows conclude her Eternal Sunshine Tour. She has also pulled out of leading the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park With George, which was expected to open next summer in the capital.
That sense of an ending — or, to reference a previous Grande project title, a “bye for now” — inevitably hung over opening night at The O2 (Aug. 15), the first of a sold-out 10-show residency at the 20,000-capacity arena. The venue was previously at the center of the 33-year-old’s 2020 Netflix special, Excuse Me, I Love You, and it’s one she will call home again through Sept. 1.
But if Grande is approaching these shows as a farewell to this particular chapter, and potentially a more significant break from the spotlight, she certainly isn’t performing like someone ready to quietly bow out. It was an evening blazing with vertiginous vocal runs, an abundance of intricate video imagery, as well as live sample looping and the fans’ elaborate ‘fit checks and fervent enthusiasm.
Below, find the five best moments from Grande’s opening night of the London (and final) leg of her Eternal Sunshine Tour.
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‘Positions’ (Finally) Gets Its Flowers
If you were to judge the crowd’s favorite Ariana album by outfits alone, Positions would be the clear winner. Across London’s audience, the era’s soft neutrals and Mary Quant-style skirts were everywhere, but it was the reaction to album cuts “Just Like Magic” and “Safety Net” that suggested the record is finally having a moment in the sun. While its 2020 release was met with a more muted critical response than Grande’s previous output, hearing thousands of fans scream every word back — particularly to a pair of non-singles – now makes a compelling case for a reappraisal. Don’t say we didn’t tell you so…
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“Hampstead” Sounds Right at Home
“London will always have a special place in my heart,” Grande said by way of introducing the wistful (and heart-wrenching) “Hampstead,” an ode to a pocket of the city that inspired the song and became a meaningful part of her time spent living here while filming Wicked. Performing on a stool perched at the lip of the smaller, circular B-stage, where she laughed with a group of fans sharing tissues and crying at the barrier, seeing her still give the song so much love and reverence was a beautiful moment — one that felt all the more moving for taking place in the city that inspired it.
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A Double ‘Petal’ Surprise
The closest thing Grande has ever written to a pop-rock rager, the gleeful and lightly unhinged “Bad Thing (Bunny Hop)” was a chance to see its author briefly let loose. Trading the more delicate intimacy of some of the night’s other performances for something giddier, the track — which made its live debut alongside “Kiss Me,” also lifted from Petal — had Grande bouncing around the stage, whipping a white lace gown around as she relished the opportunity to break away from the tightly choreographed structure of the rest of the set.
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An Outstretched Hand
This uptempo, bubbling, lo-fi lullaby holds a particularly significant place in Grande’s relationship with the U.K. “One Last Time” took on an entirely new meaning following the 2017 Manchester Arena attack at one of the singer’s shows, becoming a symbol of solidarity and remembrance for the 22 victims, and soaring to No. 2 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart in the tragedy’s wake. Gliding across the runway and performing beneath pale lighting, at The O2, Grande beautifully demonstrated how essential the song is to her catalogue; rather than being surrounded by her dancers, she was given space to simply move through its verses, as though cultivating a pocket of tranquility amid a rapt crowd.
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So Long, London
And then there was the bittersweet reality of goodbye. “As you know London is our final stop on this tour and I just wanted to say I’m going to savor every single second of these last 10 shows with you guys,” Grande told the crowd shortly before the show came to a close. Who knows what Grande’s next chapter holds following her planned hiatus, but for the first of these final London dates, there was only the present to worry about. So dance we did, right alongside her.
