On Sunday, May 13th, Joji performed his second show at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California as a part of the Smithereens Oblivion Tour. Before Joji hit the stage, he had recruited three opening acts: Rei Brown, Lil Toe (Ammo), and his DJ Savagerealm. All three openers kept the crowd entertained all night before the big act. Savagerealm played the iconic “Gary Song” from Spongebob Squarepants. Lil Toe alternated with his alter ego Ammo between songs and Rei Brown performed his song “Thinking Bout You” which is a collaboration with Joji.

As 9:50 PM rolled around, the entire arena became pitch black. In the most Joji fashion, he finally made his entrance playing a hardcore heavy metal tune that is the complete opposite of his melancholic and introspective music. Joji then yelled out “Los Angeles!”and performed “Sanctuary”, “YEAH RIGHT”, and “YUKON (INTERLUDE)” back to back.

Joji then paused the concert to share a tradition he has been doing on tour known as the “Jack Off Contest”. It was the 75th Jack Off Contest which saw Jack Sparrow impersonators come on stage to prove themselves as the best Jack Sparrow impersonator. A great thing about the entirety of his concert was Joji’s incredible sense of humor, likely due to his previous internet personas as Filthy Frank and Pink Guy. The entire concert had incredible skits and Joji always cleverly introduced the next song by making a pun for it.

After performing “1AM Freestyle,” Joji abruptly left the stage but when he returned began performing a whole DJ set. He played songs such as “Vent” by Baby Keem, “Sky” by Playboi Carti, “Just Wanna Rock” by Lil Uzi Vert, and a remix of “Glimpse of Us.” This entire segment of the concert felt like a set you’d experience at EDC Las Vegas or Beyond Wonderland. Once this portion of the concert concluded, Joji came back out to perform “Die For You”, “Like You Do”, and “Afterthought.” It was then incredible to see Joji perform the entire outro to “Gimme Love” and tell the entire arena to light up their phones and put them up to the sky. The arena looked stunning while those heavenly instrumentals were played. This definitely gave Joji a moment of personal reflection, likely reminiscent of how far he has come from his YouTuber days to now selling out arenas worldwide.

It was nearing the end of the concert and Joji began to perform an acoustic version of “Slow Dancing in the Dark,” really displaying how incredible his vocals are over sad ballads. Just as all the lights dimmed and everyone seemed to have left the stage, Joji came running out, screaming he still had one last song to perform. As soon as everyone heard the first few piano notes, everyone knew he was going to perform his most successful single to date, “Glimpse of Us.”

As a whole Joji is one of those artists you need to see perform live. He takes everyone in the audience on an emotional rollercoaster making them laugh and cry to the tune of his emotional ballads. Anyone who’s been a long term Joji fan or has just become one will definitely enjoy seeing his performance, and this night at The Kia Forum was sure to be unforgettable for all in attendance.

Show Review: Joji Presents Smithereens Oblivion at The Kia Forum