[RECAP] Joji Causes the Forum to Sing Their Hearts Out at “Smithereens Oblivion” Tour

Japanese singer-songwriter, rapper, former comedian, and YouTuber, Joji, makes his stop in Los Angeles for his “SMITHEREENS OBLIVION” tour. On May 13th, 2023, Joji held his LA stop at The KIA Forum in Inglewood, California. The Glimpse Of Us star showcased just how popular he was with a sold out show and a venue full of fans singing their hearts out.

Joji’s Openers: Savagerealm, Lil Toe and Rei Brown.

The concert opened with Savagerealm coming onto the stage. He started with a joke that he didn’t hear anything upon his entrance so it needed to be re-done! We later learn that we’ll see him often as he’s actually part of Joji’s band as his tour DJ. The next opener that followed up was artist Lil Toe. Showing off his unique look as he performs wearing a ski mask, we’re reminded of Joji himself who also wears one during his Yebi Labs set.

The last opener of the night is fellow Japanese singer Rei Brown. He performed some of his tracks such as “White Honda”, ” Neptune”, and “EZ”. As a surprise, he also performed an unreleased, untitled track that he had just finished which the audience seemed to enjoy. A song more well known to the audience in attendance is “Thinking About You” which was actually written with Joji and features him. He ended the set with “Forever”.

Fans Sing Along To Joji

Joji opened his concert with a fan favorite, “Sanctuary”. After coming through a tunnel which the audience can see on scree, he is suddenly on stage and lifted in the middle of the sets. Fans began singing along instantly and from there, you knew how the rest of the concert would be.

He performed “Yeah Right” and put on a Lakers cap (because he’s in Los Angeles). Through this song, the band was revealed to the audience. Joji introduced his band soon after the song finished. Through the introductions, we found out that Savagerealm wasn’t just his opener. He was also the DJ and a part of Joji’s band.

Heartbreak Lyrics

The singer-songwriter is known for his “sad boy music” as his lyrics are often about heartbreak. Throughout the concert, Joji definitely entertained the crowd with various moments of comedic relief. Therefore, the contrast was refreshing and allowed fans to really enjoy both sides; the sad and the funny!

During a break, he talked about how Savagerealm was being a tourist in LA. Savagerealm went on to explain that he took a Hollywood bus tour and even a picture of a palm tree. Joji responded that’s totally not cool and not the thing to do when in LA. This of course made the LA audience laugh as people know that LA is known for Hollywood and palm trees.

He then went on to perform some of his tracks such as “Night Rider”, “Will He” and “Worldstar Money”. This gave newer and older fans songs they enjoy and know him by. As another break from singing, he brought out many people dressed as Jack Sparrow for his “75th Anniversary Jack off”. They then had a contest with the crowds participation of who is the best Jack Sparrow of the night.

Joji then went on to ask the audience “LA is your heart made of gold?” before performing “I Don’t Wanna Waste My Time”, “Attention”, and “Ew”.

Restroom Break

Joji then took a little “restroom break” after this where a timer went up and you can “hear him” in the restroom. LA yelled “wash your hands” which of course he responded to later that he didn’t. This was time for the switch to his DJ set Yebi Labs! Here the Forum practically turned into a club as remixes were played for “Test Drive”, “Tick Tock”, “I am Freestyle”, and “Glimpse of Us”. They then switched back to the normal Joji concert with “Die For You”.

He made a joke at this point that he was in the restroom the whole time and had no idea what was happening. Joji often tells this joke as he and multiple others on stage normally wear ski masks for his Yebi Labs set. He was full of surprises throughout and even brought out a blackjack table and dealer on stage to play. This lead to him tossing his Joji cash to the crowd. After this, he performed tracks such as “Pretty Boy” and “Plastic Taste” before tempting Savagerealm to use his giant red button…which turns off everything and the set went dark. The audience had to get loud for him to forgive Joji and turn everything back on.

As the running joke, Joji then had to use the restroom again which gave the band some time to freestyle. Joji came out to do a really bad freestyle which his band called him out on. He said it was embarrassing so he needed to make it an “Afterthought” and went into performing this track. The singer also performed his more popular tracks “Gimme Love”, as well as, two versions of “Slow Dancing in the Dark”.

Of course, he had to end his concert with his top and most played song, “Glimpse Of Us”. Even though Joji has been around for a while, this song garnered many new fans for him. You can say that it brought him to a new level as an artist.

Who Is Joji?

We are pretty sure you don’t need this section of the article but just in case: Joji is a Japanese singer-songwriter and rapper. He is formally a comedian and YouTube star. The 88rising artist is known for songs like “Slow Dancing in the Dark” as well as, “Sanctuary” and of course, “Glimpse Of Us“. “Glimpse Of Us” became his highest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100.

For those who have not yet seen Joji perform live, please be sure to find a time to do so! He is one of those artists that can showcase his talents live and even create new fans of concert/festival attendees that previously did not know of him.

Photo Credit: Lindsey Blane