It can be easy to forget that Ariana Grande is a musician at her core.
While her eighth studio album, “Petal,” is scheduled to drop July 31, her diverse portfolio of activities and side hustles have increasingly shared the spotlight since her last tour in 2019. She earned an Oscar nomination for her role as do-gooder Glinda in Bay Area filmmaker Jon M. Chu‘s two-part “Wicked” blockbusters, and her comedic chops – sharpened by two turns hosting “Saturday Night Live” – will soon be highlighted in the upcoming “Focker-in-Law” sequel. She also has expanded her brand with fragrance and jewelry lines.
But on Tuesday, June 9, Grande reminded the sold-out Oakland Arena crowd that she’s one of the most vocally gifted singers of her generation.
The Ariana Grande who strode into the second night of a highly theatrical three-night Oakland stand was intent on carrying out a vision and narrative. Unfortunately, the focus came at the expense of Grande’s lighter side. Her likability and spot-on impressions have been evident from “SNL” to “Hot Ones” and late-night talk show appearances, but her commitment to the tour’s thematic structure meant there was little wiggle room for goofiness or spontaneity.
More Information
Ariana Grande: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 10. Oakland Arena, 7000 S. Coliseum Way, Oakland. 510-569-2121. www.ticketmaster.com
Still, that rigidity did little to dampen the mood inside the arena, which was thick with thirst and anticipation. Since Grande made a “one last hurrah for now” comment on Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast last fall, Arianators have been marinating on that line from the moment the 11-city tour was announced.
The “Eternal Sunshine” kiss-off “yes, and?” set a defiant, confident tone that would carry through 23 songs and just under two hours. The stage she roamed, from the two-story backdrop to the catwalk to the B-stage was fully LED-equipped, which allowed Grande to shift visual moods.
Ariana Grande kicked off her “Eternal Sunshine” tour at Oakland Arena, her first in seven years. (Julian Dakdouk)
Each number in the first two acts was suitable for an MTV Video Music Awards show, imbued with drama amid a backdrop of a home in various stages of disrepair. Video interludes influenced by her 2025 short film with Christian Breslauer “Brighter Days Ahead” (and a few whimsical Chu-like touches) drove the show’s narrative, one of Grande confronting and reflecting on past lives, trauma, healing and the way forward.
Twelve dancers of refreshingly inclusive body sizes gallivanted across the stage and catwalk in multiple formations that bridged the streets, the proscenium stage and fashion runways.
Speaking of fashion, Law Roach, the longtime stylist for Grande and Zendaya – spotted making last-second adjustments in a live, under-the-stage cameo – curated the pop star’s six custom outfits from a murderers’ row of haute couture designers.
As Grande flitted across the stage in death-defying boots with a stiletto-type heel that would give TSA jitters, audience members held their breath that she wouldn’t trip on the fringe of her floor-length Givenchy by Sarah Burton organza puff-sleeve gown. (Spoiler: she didn’t.)
But her elegant outfits didn’t pull attention away from the main focus: Grande’s voice. She gamely hit soaring high notes as naturally as we civilians order a burger from the drive-thru. She requested a moment of quiet, and in an impressive display of versatility, she assembled a rhythmic vocal bed word-by-word with a loop station during “Eternal Sunshine.”
Ariana Grande kicked off her “Eternal Sunshine” tour at Oakland Arena, her first in seven years. (Katia Temkin)
That said, the muddiness of the soundboard vocal mix – a common bugaboo for vocal-intense performances inside cavernous arenas – was especially evident when she attempted to address the audience. (Could anyone understand what she said?)
The third act, marked by “Imperfect for You,” “Safety Net” and “One Last Time,” signaled a healing of past fissures. The act closed with the cleansing “Rain on Me” and ebullient “Break Free,” two anthems aligned for Pride Month that the crowd ate up.
By the fourth act, Grande’s voice was fully warmed up. Stripped down to just a microphone and band, Grande uncorked a sonorous vocal display that included “Dangerous Woman,” a striking high octave in “Past Life” and the rock ‘n’ roll rumble “Honeymoon Avenue.”
Grande introduced “hate that i made i made you love me,” from her forthcoming “Petal,” with the breaking news that the song had reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But the setlist was dominated by “Eternal Sunshine,” including the bonus tracks. “Wicked” numbers and any songs from 2018’s “Sweetener” were left out.
Ariana Grande kicked off her “Eternal Sunshine” tour at Oakland Arena, her first in seven years. (Julian Dakdouk)
A glimpse of playfulness came out during the mid-set highlight “thank u, next,” a song she released before her three-year marriage to luxury real estate agent Dalton Gomez. She humorously shrugged into the lines “Only wanna do it once real bad.” More so, her prescient lyric “We all grew from the drama” was received with appreciative, knowing roars.
To paraphrase Glinda from “The Wizard of Oz,” Ariana Grande always had the power; she just had to learn it for herself. To quote Grande herself, she learned from the past, and “turned out amazing.”
But Grande saved her most striking visual for her dramatic exit.
During “Supernatural,” she and her dancers gathered in the center of the arena. Using acrobatic wiring, Grande levitated into the overhead lighting fixture which had transformed into a glowing spaceship a la “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
If Grande wanted to give the impression she walked among us, she failed. Her “Eternal Sunshine” World Tour showed Grande is not of this earth.
Todd Inoue is a freelance writer.
Ariana Grande kicked off her “Eternal Sunshine” tour at Oakland Arena, her first in seven years. (Katia Temkin)
Ariana Grande ‘Eternal Sunshine’ Tour setlist
Act I
1. “Yes, And?”
2. “Positions”
3. “Dandelion”
4. “The Boy Is Mine”
Act II
5. “Saturn Returns Interlude”
6. “Eternal Sunshine”
7. “Just Like Magic”
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”
22. “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”
23. “Supernatural”
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This article originally published at Ariana Grande delivers a dazzling but tightly scripted Oakland Arena show.