SOME of the biggest names in pop and rock will be performing at Portsmouth Live!, a ticketed celebration held over three nights in the Waterfront Festival Arena on Southsea Common after the America’s Cup World Series racing.

Tomorrow will see a host of chart-topping artists entertaining a 50,000-strong crowd, with 1980s superstars Spandau Ballet joined by Brit Award-winning rockers, Bastille, boy band supergroup, McBusted, Scottish soft rockers, Wet, Wet, Wet, pictured right, and international No.1 singer-songwriter, Carly Rae Jepsen.

The Portsmouth Live! programme began yesterday and continues today (Friday, 24) with the South Coast Proms 2015 featuring The Massed Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines. The famous ceremonial band will treat the audience to a spectacular summer evening concert featuring two hours of classical, contemporary and military music.

The Proms will culminate with a traditional Naval Sunset Ceremony by the Royal Marines Corps of Drums and stunning musical firework finale.

The tempo changes on Saturday with the one-night pop and rock spectacular, organised by “A Stones Throw Events Co”, the team behind Portsmouth’s popular live music Victorious Festival.

Spandau Ballet, pictured above right, are one of Britain’s great iconic bands having sold over 25 million records, scored numerous multi-platinum albums and amassed 23 hit singles across the globe including the UK No1 single True.

Since their humble beginnings as a group of friends with dreams of stardom in the late 70s, it wasn’t long before they became fully-fledged members of the iconic Blitz Club scene and established themselves as one of the super-groups of the 80s.

After two decades apart, the band reformed in 2009, embarking on a sold-out tour. Lead singer Tony Hadley and band, which includes actor Martin Kemp as bassist, are guaranteed to put on a live performance that will have the audience singing their hearts out.

They recently released their new album, The Story, The Very Best of Spandau Ballet, featuring all of the greatest hits plus three new songs

“We are very excited to be headlining Portsmouth Live at the America’s Cup World Series this year, it is going to be an amazing show,” said the band.

English rockers Bastille hit the headlines in 2013 with the catchy single, Pompeii, which reached No2 in the charts.

It was followed by their debut album, Bad Blood, which went to number one in the UK Albums Chart, and earned them the British Breakthrough Award at the BRITS the following year.

McBusted, main picture above, haven’t looked back since combining the talents of two globally successful boybands, McFly and Busted, into one pop supergroup. The lads came together in 2013 and, after a sell-out nationwide tour, released their first joint album in 2014. The boys are back on the road this year playing to their legions of fans.

Canadian Carly Rae Jepsen was first discovered on Canadian Idol. Her massively successful single, Call Me Maybe, became a YouTube hit before reaching number one on the US Billboard list and topping the charts in 19 other countries – holding the UK No1 spot for four weeks. This was followed by hits including I Really Like You.

The onshore evening programme complements four incredible days on the water for the America’s Cup World Series.

Preview racing begins today, while on Saturday the racing gets serious, with two races held as every point matters. The finale ‘Super Sunday’ will decide the winner for the first ACWS, followed by the official prizegiving.