Thousands of fans packed the Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater on Saturday night for KTUphoria, an all-star lineup of pop music acts, which kicked off the venue’s 2017 summer concert series.
First to hit the stage was up-and-coming Australian “Call on Me” singer Starley, who performed her new single that will be released Friday. Starley was followed by Miley Cyrus, who gave an intimate three-song performance before heading to England to perform in the Manchester ‘One Love’ Concert the following day.
“It’s completely serendipitous that we’re all here together today,” Cyrus told the crowd after performing her new single, “Malibu” and Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” a song that was included in her famous backyard sessions. “I live so far from the beach. It’s nice to be by the water, the beach, with you all.”
Reggaeton artist Nicky Jam was up next, and had the crowd dancing to his performance, including songs “El Perdon” and “Hasta el Amanecer.” Following his dance party of a set was pop singer Daya, who performed her single “Hideaway,” and the Grammy-winning song “Don’t Let Me Down.”
“Music comes first to me, all of this stuff I love, but it’s just all about the music for me and it’s about making great songs that young girls can look up to and relate to,” Daya said. “And to me it’s so special to see a little girl singing back my lyrics to me in concert.”
Jamaican-American artist Shaggy hit the stage next as the sun was setting and got the audience singing and dancing along to his feel-good hit songs from the 2000s including “Angel” and “It Wasn’t Me.” He was followed by Jason Derulo. Backed up with a band and dancers, Derulo sang classics such as “Watcha Say” and “Ridin’ Solo.” He also sang his newest single “Swalla,” and brought out rapper Ty Dolla $ign to perform with him before closing with “You’re the One.”
Later, Craig David performed his TS5 set for the first time in North America. His goal for the night was to bring two generations of parents and their kids together.
“Coming here, for people who’ve never heard it before, and I’m probably brand new to most people here, I love it,” David said. “Because it’s like, this is exciting.”
Near the end of the night, Fifth Harmony delivered a killer set of their most popular songs despite some technical difficulties. The all-female pop group opened with “Worth It.” Fifth Harmony also brought out Ty Dolla $ign to sing “Work From Home.” The group performed their new single, “Down,” which was released that same day.
Closing the show were the Backstreet Boys, who were celebrating 24 years of music that night. They opened up with “Larger Than Life,” and sang hit after hit. Fans of all ages were going wild as they sang each nostalgic song. The group closed with “Everybody,” from their debut self-titled album.
