When Jon Brion would perform at Largo in Los Angeles, the enthrallment of his show entailed watching the shaggy-haired guy play myriad instruments, sampling and looping them into a climactic song. One that sticks out from memory is his version of Al Green’s “Let’s Stick Together.”
Well, Ariana Grande in her first night of her Eternal Sunshine Tour in LA had a Jon Brion moment, and a clever and showstopping one at that. However, instead of playing a hodge-podge of instruments, she sampled and looped her voice to angelic proportions during the concert’s second act onset, “Eternal Sunshine”.
It was the first time during the night that she went solo after boogying with her dance entourage through the first four songs. Soon after shushing the cheering Crypto arena, she launched into an a cappella with the lyrics “I Don’t Care What People Say Is True…” The four-octave-range 3x Grammy winner then wove an intricate backup vocal of herself, which dove and bobbed with the song’s main chorus. Lit by circular rays on the oval end of the stage, she stepped away from the synthesizer, letting her backup chorus swell. Grande then looked up at the arena with a beaming expression that read ‘Look what I just did’. The crowd got it. And then they went wild.
(Videos shot by Deadline’s Natalie Sitek)
The performance was one of a plethora of sublimities in a concert (her first in six years) that could best be described as, well, cinematic. That comes as no surprise, given how the Sam & Cat vet has demonstrated her prowess on the big screen with a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Wicked. Steven Spielberg may have an alien pic in theaters with Disclosure Day, but Grande gave the UFO at the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind a run for its money in terms of sheer climax. Speaking of money, floor tickets are going for as much as $3K. If you have to go into debt, “Eternal Sunshine” is worth the bill.
Spoiler alert: she ultimately ascends to the heavens:
Grande co-directed the concert with Christian Breslauer, her music video helmer from “Yes, And?” to the most recent “Hate That I Made You Love Me.” The short films shot for the concert were projected on the hovering cylinder screen in the near center of the Crypto, hued in green and light blue tones, evoking Richard LaGravenese’s 2013 Southern-set YA movie Beautiful Creatures.
The opening sequence of the concert shows Grande getting ready in a light sea-green tiled bathroom. Pipes start breaking, and the Southern mansion is filled with a Titanic-level of water. Water bursts from a door, and Grande finds herself in a room where a version of herself is plugged into a computer with her memories being erased. The tour’s name is reportedly a nod to one of her favorite films, the 2004 Oscar-winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but in no way is she ever running around with joyous love through Grand Central Station or waking up on a snowy beach with her better half. Ultimately, in a later video shown during the show, Grande encounters another doppelgänger plugged into a computer, where they, too, have their minds zapped. At one point, she falls through an Alice in Wonderland-like hole surrounded by her hands, which are reaching out to her as she falls. All of this, mind you, is far more riveting than the car chase scenes in Disclosure Day.
What’s it all mean? Fans have their deconstructions. Deadline’s Natalie Sitek, who has a PhD in Grande, tells me that the interlude pieces are a continuation of the Brighter Days Ahead short film, which won a 2025 VMA Video Award of the Year. It shows Grande as the character Peaches, debating whether she wants to clear her memories from her prior eras: “Yours Truly,” “Dangerous Woman,” “One Love Manchester,” and “Sweetener.” In one room, Grande is adorned in her One Love Manchester outfit, while the second version of herself is supposed to represent the time when she dated late b.f. and “The Way” and “My Favorite Part” collaborator, Mac Miller. She’s trying to erase the pain and reconcile with her younger self, who she meets on a swing, and an ultimate senior citizen. The 32-year-old conveys the weight of her mind via fantastical epic means.
Like Madonna before her, Grande is playing her personal life symbolically out on stage. Read: Madonna’s 2006 “Confessions” tour began with black-and-white footage of the Material Girl taming the horse that threw her in August 2005, a wink to the crowd that she was then the stronger.
By the way, the flooded house plays out onstage in what looks to be a condemned estate. Eventually, in the latter part of the show, production designer Rob Sinclair’s set becomes overrun with flowers.
But back to a cappella moments. Typically, a performer of Grande’s vocal wattage has to stop the music for one to savor their sonic gifts. However, Grande is always able to bust wonderfully through the noise, evident in her high notes during “Positions”, “Dandelion,” and quite sublimely in “Hampstead” (When she elevates “What’s wrong with a little bit of poison? Tell me“, it’s emotional).
With a slew of pop princess concerts since last year, including Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, and Sabrina Carpenter, cynics might think these events are like comparing shades of polyester, but, no, there’s a lot of method that goes into each of these performers to distinguish themselves more than the rivalry of 1990s hipster indie filmmakers. They keenly watch one another as they prep for their own acts. For example, Carpenter’s fun romp “Short n’ Sweet” sets itself apart in being a love letter to 1980s cable TV, Nick & Nora movies, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In a sea of twenty-to-forty-something touring performers, the choreography here in “Eternal Sunshine” by Will Loftis, Scott Nicholson, Brian Nicholson, and Associate Choreography Darrion Gallegos shows its distinction: Grande’s back-up entourage is like a kaleidoscope, fanning and spinning symmetrically around her with each breath and beat. Read, they literally break free in a rush on the runway during “Break Free”, pounce and prance like cats during “The Boy Is Mine”, breezy sash-shay around her during “Thank u, Next,” and strut slowly and twirl around Grande during “7 Rings” like ballerinas in a kids’ jewelry box. Sure, Carpenter’s cut-the-ruggers are pizzazzing with their flips and cartwheels, but the Grande gang make formidable dance foes in the Sharks and Jets sense of the word.
Breslauer was the creative director on the show as well. Law Roach put together all of Grande’s glam looks, from her “Boy Is Mine” Ludovic de Saint Sernin Catwoman lingerie get-up to Wiederhoeft ballet-style dresses to the Givenchy floral dress in the finale, which takes her to heaven. Her first night in L.A. on Saturday had the same lineup as her Oakland, CA, opener, a set in which roughly half the ditties came from her “Eternal Sunshine” album. While she included “Hate That I Made You Love Me” from her forthcoming July 31 “Petal” album, it remains to be seen whether she includes new tracks from that as she continues on the road until Sept. 1. Grande played last Sunday and Wednesday in town and winds down her L.A. stop tonight and tomorrow at the Kia Forum.
Yes, touring at any age is exhausting. But it’s fun to get fans all riled up by telling them it’s your last one, even when you’re in your 80s (just ask Rod Stewart).
Despite Grande saying this will be her last tour in a “long, long, long, long, long time”, our thoughts on that promise is that she’s talkin’ way too much, and she should never give it up.
Act I
- Yes, And?
- Positions
- Dandelion
- The Boy Is Mine
Act II
5. Eternal Sunshine
6. Just Like Magic
7. Thank u, Next
8. 7 rings
Act III
9. Imperfect for You
10. Warm
11. Safety Net
12. One Last Time
13. Rain on Me
14. Break Free
Act IV
15. Twilight Zone
16. Past Life
17. Dangerous Woman
18. Honeymoon Avenue
19. Hampstead
Act V
20. Into You
21. Hate That I Made You Love Me
Encore:
22. We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for your Love)
23. Supernatural
