Review: In Tampa, Jingle Ball lineup doesn’t turn heads, but still overflows with variety

As the year of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour comes closer to its ride off into the sunset, iHeartRadio was faced with a massive challenge when planning this year’s lineups for the 23rd (12th in Tampa’s case) Jingle Ball tour: Convincing a pop radio lover—Swiftie or not—that it’s possible to stage something more eclectic than what’s on its way to claiming the title of the biggest tour of all time.

Kissing ass and pretending that this year’s opening night lineup at Tampa’s Amalie Arena was absolutely star-studded would be absurd—especially considering that Madison Square Garden’s Jingle Ball on Dec. 8 will feature Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, and Melanie Martinez, just to name a few—but iHeart still got the eclectic portion down. Needless to say, when a former member of One Direction is involved, a few hours of up-and-comers is worth it for a less-than-sold-out room full of Directioners rocking blinking Capital One reindeer antlers, which their king would swoon towards, and call “very sexy.”

Niall Horan—the only Irishman in 1D—is past the days of blonde highlights, and takes on a more synth-rock approach on his latest album The Show, which he’ll take on tour next year. His headlining, 43-minute set (which was probably so long due to rapper Kaliii dropping out without fanfare), equipped with a six-piece band, kicked off with “Nice To Meet Ya,” as Horan played a blonde Fender Telecaster. He put the axe down for The Show opening track “Heaven,” inspired by not wanting to conform to the ideas of hitting adulthood milestones by a certain age.

Horan would go acoustic on “This Town,” the second single released by a member of One Direction following its hiatus announcement. “I hope you know it. I guess you do because I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t,” he added.

Later, after reaching as far as the photo pit to grab a fan’s CD copy of The Show to sign (“I’ve got bad knees,” he said. “I’m 30 years old.”), Horan promised to play something “brand new,” and declared that nobody would be able to identify what it was. It turned out to be a transposed, roof-raising “Story of My Life,” the only 1D song thrown into his set.

Most notably, Horan reminded his fans that he’ll be back in May for the second date of the U.S. run of his “The Show Tour,” and even mentioned its specific landing spot at Midflorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, but still questioned if he was right.

“You know what those things are like. They change the name every week,” he joked. “We’re gonna be coming in all fresh from our vacation. I might even have a tan. I’d honestly pay to come and see that because that doesn’t happen often.”

But before the heartthrob of the night could hit the stage, up-and-coming rock/pop singer-songwriter Teddy Swims, draped in a Lightning jersey—and back again following a sold-out gig at Jannus Live last month—stormed the stage with his own band, introduced as his “best friends in the world.”

Swims got a 20-minute set (about what every other act on the bill got) and opened with “Goodbye’s Been Good to You,” which sees him lament a girlfriend leaving him behind, taking everything, and still being friends with his mom. He then threw it back to last year’s classic R&B-inspired “911,” and a handful of other tracks on and off of his debut album I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part I).

“Go Lightning, I might as well say that,” Swims, a Georgia boy, called out before closing his set with 2021’s “Bed On Fire.”

Hometown rapper Doechii, who opened for Doja Cat in the same room two nights prior, worked her way through inaudible (on our end, anyway) technical difficulties with two male dancers and a DJ behind her. She’d open with her unapologetic introduction to herself, “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake,” which sees her explain secretly enjoying Paramore’s material, not keeping up with trends, and coming out as bisexual a minute in, and showed off her pipes on her Kodak Black collaboration “What It Is,” which closed her all-too-short set.

After R&B singer-rapper Paul Russell (“Lil Boo Thang”) opened the three-hour holiday shindig by recalling coming to Tampa for a work trip earlier this year and almost sympathetically calling it a “cool town,” New York-based soul-pop outfit Lawrence (which opened for the Jonas Brothers at Amalie Arena last month) took to the stage with its horned-up jams about shitty birthday parties and the beauty of being able to maintain a strong friendship while doing nothing. Oddly enough, Clyde and Gracie Lawrence didn’t say a word about their soundtrack contributions to Disney’s “Noelle,” which dropped on Disney+ the day it launched in 2019.

Swedish singer Zara Larsson, who has never performed in Tampa, despite her remarks about not having been here in a long time, plugged her upcoming album Venus by playing a new track off of it. “All My Love” was dedicated to her sister. “She is my oldest friend, and hopefully the friend I will have for the longest time in my life,” Larsson admitted, later adding that her sister—initially skeptical to do so—appears with hair extensions in the music video that rolled on the screen behind Zara.

In terms of memorability (and having zero to do with how half-empty Amalie Arena felt 10 minutes before the lights went down at 7 p.m.), even a member of One Direction couldn’t make this year’s Jingle Ball hold a candle to the Eras Tour. But at best, those who are open-minded have some new playlist additions to keep them company while we wait for Miss Americana to return in some capacity.

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This article appears in Nov 23-29, 2023.