Review: Pandora’s Summer Crush 2015

With temperatures reaching the high 90’s in So Cal, Pandora assembled a line-up for its Summer Crush Saturday show in downtown LA to match. Not a fan of spontaneously combusting in sweltering weather, it would take something pretty momentous for me to leave the comfort of A/C but Pandora succeeded in prying me away. I couldn’t pass up the chance to see Tori Kelly, Jason Derulo, Fifth Harmony, Steve Aoki, Rachel Platten and Who Is Fancy.

Providing some relief from the heat with misting fans, water stations, taco bars, umbrellas and bean bag chairs, the party environment ranged from cool lounge party to screaming/shrieking outdoor fest. Particularly excited to see Tori Kelly after viewing her on The BET Awards, she slowly opened her set with “Where I Belong” intro from her latest album ‘Unbreakable Smile’. Mixing in a few older cuts like “All In My Head” and “Dear No One”, she even threw in a Lauryn Hill cover.

Starting their show with a video montage detailing their recent triumphs as their profile steadily rises, the quintet Fifth Harmony performed cuts from ‘Reflection’, slaying this show a day before presenting Britney Spears an award at The Teen Choice Awards the next night. Whether it be Steve Aoki continuing tradition and flinging cake into the audience to satisfy a fan with a “I Want Cake” sign’s request or Jason Derulo showing his six-pack to the adoring crowd, the sold out event sizzled.

All Photos by Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for PANDORA Media