Joji Brings Epic Production to Charlotte

Pandemonium Tour Lights Up Spectrum Center

One of the year’s biggest productions hit up Spectrum Center recently as Japanese singer-songwriter Joji brought his Pandemonium tour to a capacity crowd in the Queen City. George Kusonoki Miller, professionally known as Joji, made a name for himself as a comedic internet personality and rapper but shifted his focus to his musical career in 2017. Since then, Joji has released three studio albums with his latest Smithereens album in 2022 being the focus of the fall Pandemonium Tour. 

Under the Joji moniker, Miller has upped his game, blending the best of different genres like R&B, hip-hop, folk, electronic, and more into something that is purely his own. Regardless of what label one chooses to put on it, his music is resonating with fans everywhere and the fans lined up around the block waiting to get into Spectrum Center were beyond excited for the show.

Opening up the evening was Savage Realm, who would later make an appearance as a member of Joji’s band later on. In his own words, Savage makes music that is lyrical trap Christian gospel edm alternative drill rap music. Appearing solo on stage, Savage Realm did a good job getting the crowd up and ready for the show. He’s been taking a bit of criticism as being a bit boring on this tour, but I thought his set was anything but boring. I mean you have to give credit to a guy who does a cover of “Gary’s Song” from the Spongebob show. His set was short but worth getting there early to see.

Next up was American rapper Lil Toe. Who is Lil Toe? For now, his identity is a secret, whether that changes or not only time will tell. Making his way onto the stage in full ski mask, Toe entertained the crowd, opening his set with “Bulletproof.” Musically, his set was what I would call entertaining but honestly nothing too exceptional. The stage setup featured some changing backgrounds and varying lights as Lil Toe ran through “Gang Shit” and his breakthrough hit “Suck My Nutz.”  

The final act to take the stage before Joji was producer and DJ Kenny Beats. I’m not a huge fan of DJ sets, but Kenny Beats was very good at what he does. He did a fantastic job of mixing up all different genres of music and most definitely got the crowd pumped up and ready for Joji. 

After a short break, it was finally time for Joji! Fans were packed in tight to the barricade in the general admission pit while some chose to stay towards the back to have enough room to dance and vibe during the performance and what a performance it was. Joji was off the hook as they say. 

The stage set up was beyond epic with huge geometric cubes gracing the stage as well as hanging above the stage. It was enormous and when Joji made his appearance in the middle of the lower level of cubes, he appeared almost to be miniature in stature. Opening the set with “Sanctuary” from his 2020 Nectar album, Joji was on fire from start to finish. Vocally, he sounded amazing, with the ability to channel the best R&B singers on the planet and still throw down like a hip-hop star. 

I had never seen Joji perform live and to say I was blown away would be an understatement. The show had everything you could want from top-notch musicians to world-class stage production. Let’s talk a little about the production though, because if you haven’t seen this tour live, you have no idea what you are missing. I mentioned the geometric cubes which changed color and style all evening. The light show was one of a kind with lasers, varied lighting schemes, and all the bells and whistles you could imagine. 

Joji puts on one hell of a show and there were surprises around every corner. One segment of the show had him silhouetted under a bevy of lights and another had him playing a video game on the huge screen. There were basketballs and hoops and a giant cellphone where Joji was supposed to be peaking to former President Obama. If that wasn’t enough, we had tee shirt cannons, a DJ set midway through the night, giant inflatable beach balls, and enough dancing and partying for a Times Square New Year’s Eve. 

Joji had to come out for not one, but two encores because nobody was ready to call it a night, finally closing out the performance with “Glimpse of Us.” The Pandemonium Tour was everything I thought it would be but so much more. Joji really took this tour to an entirely different level making it one of the best shows of the year. The tour has wrapped for the year, but stay tuned to Joji’s socials for tour announcements and new music hopefully coming soon. 

See the Full Gallery of the Night Here!

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