ITunes Festival: London 2012 (One Direction EP) explained

iTunes Festival: London 2012
Type:EP
Artist:One Direction
Cover:ITunes Festival London 2012 One Direction.jpg
Released:20 September 2012
Recorded:20 September 2012, at the Roundhouse in London, United Kingdom
Length:23:28
Label:Sony
Prev Title:Up All Night
Prev Year:2011
Next Title:Take Me Home
Next Year:2012

iTunes Festival: London 2012 is the debut and live extended play by English-Irish boy band One Direction. The EP was released on 20 September 2012, via iTunes and contains six songs that the group performed live at the festival.

Background and recording

On 15 May 2012, One Direction was announced as one of the performers for the iTunes Festival which was held at the Roundhouse in London.[1] Harry Styles spoke to the BBC about performing at the event, "Every year we see some of our favourite bands and artists on the bill so to be part of the line up this year is obviously incredibly exciting."[2]

The group performed at the iTunes Festvial on 20 September. They performed a handful of songs including "What Makes You Beautiful", "One Thing", "Moments", "More Than This", "Up All Night" and "Na Na Na", which were comprised in the live EP. Other tracks performed at the event that didn't make the final cut for the EP include "Gotta Be You", a cover of "Valerie" by the Zutons, "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas, "Use Somebody" by King of Leon, "Everything About You" and concluded with "I Want".[3]

Critical reception

Rachel Ward of The Daily Telegraph gave a positive response for the concert stating, "The shrillness of screaming girls, possibly whipped up into hysteria by Harry's preposterously skinny jeans, eventually seemed to shake them up for rousing performances of hits including the synth-drenched 'Everything About You', the gloriously catchy 'What Makes You Beautiful' and a credible cover of the Kings of Leon's rocky 'Use Somebody'."[4] However, she felt that the ballads, "Gotta Be You" and "I Wish" were "mediocre" for the first half of the performance.[4]

Commercial performance

iTunes Festival: London 2012 debuted at number 140 on the US Billboard 200 and sold 17,000 copies.[5]

Release history

Region! scope="col"
DateFormatLabel
Various20 September 2012Digital downloadSony[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jack White, One Direction, Usher confirmed for London's iTunes festival. NME. Tom Goodwyn. 15 May 2012. 8 February 2024.
  2. Web site: One Direction and Usher to play London iTunes festival. BBC. Greg Cochrane. 15 May 2012. 8 February 2024.
  3. Web site: One Direction Pay Tribute To "Amazing" Fans At iTunes Festival 2012 Performance. Capital FM. 21 September 2012. 8 February 2024.
  4. Web site: One Direction, iTunes Festival, Roundhouse, London, review. Rachel Ward. The Daily Telegraph. 21 September 2012. 4 April 2024.
  5. Ask Billboard: One Direction's Career Sales. Billboard. Gart Trust. 19 June 2016. 8 February 2024.
  6. Web site: iTunes Festival: London 2012 - EP by One Direction. Apple Music. 4 April 2024.