iHeartRadio’s 5th annual Alter Ego Festival returned to the LA Forum last week with a star-studded line up. For those unfamiliar, the main premise of the evening was to take a handful of the most popular alternative bands from iHeartRadio’s alternative channels and create a show to broadcast across the country. iHeartRadio chose Imagine Dragons, Maneskin, Coldplay, Willow, Kings of Leon, All Time Low, Avril Lavigne and Twenty One Pilots to perform twenty to forty minute sets for this year’s installment. All the artists taking part in the festival this year built setlists centering around successful radio play creating an exciting event for those who want to get straight to the bands’ most well known songs. 

The style of sets that the bands brought was not mega fan-friendly, but it catered towards a group of people who are interested in the genre of music at large. In my experience, I found that having hit-packed setlists allowed for the audience to have a sample of band without having to go to a two hour long show just to hear “Stressed Out,” “Sex on Fire,” or “Sk8ter Boi.” I would definitely recommend trying to grab tickets last minute because in the months leading up to the event, iHeartRadio only releases about three fourths of the tickets and holds the rest until the days leading up to the show. Usually these second round tickets are much cheaper and allow buyers to experience Alter Ego for ~100 dollars less. Overall, I cannot give this event a more positive review. It should be on every alternative fan’s bucket list for next year.