The Best Bits Of 10 Years Of Apple Music Festival

In association with Apple Music Festival

This year, Apple Music Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary with sets from A-list acts including Britney Spears, Calvin Harris, Elton John, The 1975 and Alicia Keys. To whet your appetites, here’s a reminder of the some of the greatest gigs from Apple Music Festival’s past.

Amy Winehouse (2007)

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Riding high on the success of her ‘Back To Black’ album, Winehouse delighted fans at the first ever Apple Music Festival with a 14-song set that concluded with her now-classic cover of The Zutons’ ‘Valerie’.

N*E*R*D (2008)

In its second year, Apple Music Festival moved from central London’s ICA to KOKO in Camden. The festival’s opening night was rocked by N*E*R*D, whose frontman Pharrell Williams would return to Apple Music Festival as a solo artist in 2014 and 2015.

Oasis (2009)

In year three, Apple Music Festival moved to another iconic Camden venue, the Roundhouse, which remains its home to this day. Midway through the festival, Oasis thrilled fans with a 19-song set that became one of their last live gigs to date.

The xx (2010)

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A year after their debut album made them the coolest bland on the planet, The xx cast a spell on the Roundhouse with a set of their otherworldly but melodic dream-pop. Support on the night came from rising stars Wild Beasts.

Arctic Monkeys (2011)

By 2011, the Monkeys were already packing out arenas, so their Apple Music Festival gig at the relatively intimate Roundhouse was a white-hot ticket. Alex Turner’s Last Shadow Puppets bandmate Miles Kane joined the band on stage for final song ‘505’.

Lana Del Rey (2012)

Following a support set from Benjamin Francis Leftwich, the enigmatic singer stepped out to perform nine songs from her debut album ‘Born To Die’, which had reached Number One earlier in the year.

Lady Gaga (2013)

Gaga launched Apple Music Festival 2013 and her eagerly-anticipated ‘Artpop’ album with an unforgettable set which included seven brand tracks, some kind of costume or wig change for every song, and the brilliantly bizarre sight of backing dancers dressed to look like pigs in boiler suits.

Justin Timberlake (2014)

Having focused on his acting career in recent years, JT returned to music in 2013 with a pair of new albums and the hit singles ‘Mirrors’ and ‘Suit & Tie’. His Apple Music Festival set that September was a real coup: his first full live show in the UK for six years.

Mary J Blige (2014)

In 2014, the soul icon teamed up with UK producers including Disclosure and Naughty Boy for her critically acclaimed album ‘The London Sessions’. Two months before it dropped, she previewed tracks from the album, and performed some of her greatest hits, during a stunning Apple Music Festival set.

One Direction (2015)

Just months before going on hiatus, the hugely popular boyband treated lucky “directioners” to a rare intimate gig at the Roundhouse as part of Apple Music Festival 2015. They performed 16 songs on the night interspersed with loads of jokes from wise-cracking band member Harry Styles.

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