Ariana Grande paused her performance at London's O2 Arena to request a brief moment of quiet from the crowd, a moment that has since gone viral on social media. The singer, midway through her 10-night residency, asked fans to hold their noise for the first 90 seconds of her song "Eternal Sunshine," a request that drew mixed reactions online.
Grande's Request for Silence
Before starting the song, Grande gently addressed the audience, saying, "I know this isn't the most convenient time to ask for quiet, but would you mind just letting me start this loop for the first 90 seconds of the song? And then I promise afterwards we can make noise." The moment was captured in a viral clip, captioned "Ariana needs to start shushing the crowd like Lorde because what was that," where fans can be heard shouting "Shut up" amid cheers and screams.
Social media users were quick to comment. One user remarked, "People can go hours without screaming and cheering for no reason in public. 90 seconds isn't hard." Another added, "Why can't they just shut up?" A third user noted, "Not good. It's not for long - bit of respect." One more user observed, "Right! But when she started singing they were quiet."
O2's Updated Bag Policy
Grande's residency at the O2 Arena runs from August 15 to September 1 as part of her Eternal Sunshine tour. Ahead of the shows, the venue implemented a stricter-than-usual bag policy, which has also sparked confusion among attendees. In a post on X, the O2 stated that "all your belongings must be in a 100% clear bag," specifying that "clear plastic freezer bags (zip-lock bags or similar) up to medium size (30cm x 26cm) allowed." The policy is mandatory for admittance to the show.
The arena also clarified that bags inside the clear bag would not be permitted, and a graphic showed that loose make-up products were allowed but a make-up bag was not. Printed, patterned, or tinted plastic bags were also banned. Exceptions apply only to "medical, accessibility, parent/child-care related bags or other essential bags," which would be subject to venue security inspections.
Fans Question the Policy
The new policy is significantly stricter than the O2's standard rules, which typically allow A4-sized bags of any color, pattern, or transparency, with no prohibition on bags within bags. This change confused fans who had attended other events at the venue. One attendee asked, "Why are no 'normal' bags not allowed in for this show but fine for every other I've been to this year?" Another questioned, "If it's a safety thing, why is this not in place for every show at The O2? I've also not had a bag check in years since the walk-through scanners, so what is this doing?"
The residency continues until September 1, with Grande set to perform remaining shows under the new bag policy and with the audience's cooperation on the quiet request.
