Joji brought his Smithereens tour to Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom for a two night, sold out run on October 6th and 7th. Even though it was raining, fans lined up all day to see the 88 Rising star take the stage in front of 5,000 like minded attendees.
Originally starting his career as a YouTuber known as Filthy Frank and The Pink Guy, Joji transitioned into a more serious music career in the mid-2010s, trading his comedic genre for R&B and trip hop. You can still see his YouTube and meme influence in his current performance, where he throws in a few jokes between songs and does over the top dancing during some of his tracks.
Joji is constantly connected with his fans throughout the night, speaking about how thankful he was that the fans waited in the rain to see him. He also made it a point to throw merchandise in the crowd throughout the night, even building a canon-like machine meant to hurl the shirts at the crowd.
He also brought out a performer local to the Chicagoland area to highlight the importance of supporting your local artists. The man he brought out dresses up as the character “Wolverine,” and also bartends. Joji let him plug his social media before moving on to the next song.
After a night filled with deep cuts, Joji exited the stage while the crowd cheered him on for more. He came back out and performed an acoustic rendition of his hit “Slow Dancing in the Dark” before playing the full track a moment later. He said his goodbyes and exited once again, yet the crowd demanded more. He returned and performed his highest charting song to date, “Glimpse of Us.” The future looks bright for Joji.
