Arenas & Sheds Concerts Verizon Center

2014 Jingle Ball

Posted on January 3, 2015
Charli XCX in concert

I love shooting the Jingle Ball. It’s an exercise in well organized chaos and it gets incredibly frustrating at times, but it’s an event unlike any other that gathers the year’s biggest pop performers on one stage and that is hard to beat. This year featured headliners Iggy Azalea, Ariana Grande and 5 Seconds of Summer along with Charli XCX, Calvin Harris, Jesse J, One Republic and a host of others. An added bonus this year was many of the acts had songs where they perform together and we were able to shoot them. That never happens. However, the photo pit this year was much smaller than usual which led to some intense crowding (there were over 20 photos in there) but I can’t wait to do it again next December.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 15th, 2014 - Ariana Grande performs onstage during HOT 99.5's Jingle Ball 2014 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Her 2014 album My Everything contained the hit singles "Problem" and Break free." (Photo By Kyle Gustafson / For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON, DC - December 15th, 2014 - Brent Kutzle and Ryan Tedder of One Republic perform onstage during HOT 99.5's Jingle Ball 2014 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Their hits include "Counting Stars" and "Good Life." (Photo By Kyle Gustafson / For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON, DC - December 15th, 2014 - Jesse J and Ariana Grande perform their hit song "Bang Bang" during HOT 99.5's Jingle Ball 2014 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. (Photo By Kyle Gustafson / For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON, DC - December 15th, 2014 - Iggy Azalea performs onstage during HOT 99.5's Jingle Ball 2014 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Her single "Fancy" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. (Photo By Kyle Gustafson / For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON, DC - December 15th, 2014 - Meghan Trainor performs onstage during HOT 99.5's Jingle Ball 2014 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Her hit "All About That Bass" topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight consecutive weeks. (Photo By Kyle Gustafson / For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON, DC - December 15th, 2014 - Michael Clifford and Luke Hemmings of 5 Seconds of Summer perform onstage during HOT 99.5's Jingle Ball 2014 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. (Photo By Kyle Gustafson / For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON, DC - December 15th, 2014 - Ariana Grande performs onstage during HOT 99.5's Jingle Ball 2014 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Her 2014 album My Everything contained the hit singles "Problem" and Break free." (Photo By Kyle Gustafson / For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON, DC - December 15th, 2014 - Lil Jon performs onstage during HOT 99.5's Jingle Ball 2014 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. (Photo By Kyle Gustafson / For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON, DC - December 15th, 2014 - Jesse J performs "Bang Bang" during HOT 99.5's Jingle Ball 2014 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. (Photo By Kyle Gustafson / For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

BUY PRINTS: Click on any image in this post or in the photo gallery to purchase prints. Check my photo archive for more shows to choose from.
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Please don’t reuse these photos without my permission. The slideshow below has embed code you can use if you want to put these photos on your blog. Please link back to this post.


Kyle Gustafson is a freelance photographer based in Washington, D.C. His work appears weekly in The Washington Post. Complex Magazine named him one of the 50 Greatest Concert Photographers Right Now.

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