While certainly no stranger to sold-out stadium performances, on July 31st, j-hope leveled up his showmanship skills even further by performing his first solo stage at the American music festival Lollapalooza. The festival is one of the most popular music festivals featuring notable artists throughout its storied history, and j-hope wasn’t shy about adding his name to the list of great performers. His seventy-minute set was equal parts groundbreaking and awe-inspiring, entertaining longtime ARMY and first-time listeners alike.
History in the Making
Even before he took to the stage, j-hope’s performance was already one for the history books. His appearance at the festival marked the first time that a Korean artist headlined any major music festival in the United States. It was also reported that his show generated the highest number of ticket sales in Lollapalooza history. Aside from music industry history, this was also an important moment in BTS history, as it marked the first fully solo performance for any of the members in their second chapter.
It wasn’t just ARMY taking note of this significant event. Event organizers seemed to agree that this would be the highlight of the festival as Perry Farrell, the founder of Lollapalooza, as well as Chicago Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, took the stage just before j-hope’s performance to make the grand announcement that Lollapalooza would continue in Chicago for the next 10 years. The event even gave j-hope 10 minutes of extra stage time, moving his show up from 9 pm to 8:50 pm.
Sunshine on Stage
From the onset, it was clear that this was going to be a performance of epic proportions. With both a platform for the live band as well as a massive elevated stage, even j-hope’s set design showed how much thought, effort, and attention had been put into the development of this performance. The show officially began with j-hope living up to the name of his album and springing up to the upper stage like a jack in the box. Thus began the first act of the performance.
While the first half of the show featured songs from both Jack in the Box and Hope World, the aesthetics definitely leaned toward the darker side associated with the new album. Wearing an all-black ensemble, j-hope rocked out on stage engaging the audience with his alternative hip-hop sound, even going as far as to rap his verse from “Cypher pt. 1” which originally appeared on O!RUL8,2?. The first half of the show also had no choreography, and ended with a new version of “Arson,” before transitioning into “Music Box: Reflection.”
When j-hope returned to the stage after a brief interlude, he once again popped up from below, but this time in an all-white outfit. For act two, his demeanor was closer to his more traditional BTS stage presence, dancing and smiling. He showed new choreography for “Dynamite Tropical Remix” and introduced choreography for “Hope World.” In addition to “Dynamite”, he also performed his two previous solos from the group albums “Trivia: Just Dance” and “Outro: Ego.” Despite being of a sunnier disposition for the second half, his performance was no less fierce or entertaining. This was clearly exemplified in the rousing performance of “Chicken Noodle Soup” that he put on featuring Becky G. Their chemistry on stage showed not only how well the two work together, but also the clear admiration, respect, and friendship that they share. Before finishing his performance, he gave some final comments in Korean showing that he had not forgotten his roots. On the surface, it may seem as though these two distinct personas would create an incongruent performance, but instead, the two acts worked together perfectly to reveal the two sides of j-hope, which was one of j-hope’s main motivating factors in creating Jack in the Box.
Audience Reactions
Due to the nature of festivals, it’s difficult to know just how many people showed up to see j-hope perform, but it’s estimated to be around 100,000. What is known for sure is that nearly 15 million fans around the world tuned in to watch the performance live-streamed on Weverse. Additionally, in the United States, the performance was broadcasted on Hulu, meaning the number of people that watched is even higher. When watching these broadcasts, it’s clear to see that the people in attendance weren’t just casual passersby; the shouts and chants reveal the audience was fully participating in the show with j-hope. ARMY showed up and showed out.
After the performance ended, ARMY online were quick to laud both the crowd and j-hope for putting on a spectacular performance. In every moment, j-hope was fully in command of the stage, and the show was truly unforgettable. Not long after finishing, j-hope started a Vlive with Jimin where he disclosed how stressed he had been about the performance and how he had practiced six hours a day while in Chicago. Hopefully, he can rest easy now knowing that all of his effort has paid off and his worries were for naught. It’s not just ARMY that feels this way, many people, who were not ARMY but still attended the show, posted online later how impressed they were with j-hope’s set. The media has also widely praised his performance. NME referred to him as a “true solo great” while Billboard called his performance “historic.”
It certainly took a great deal of courage for j-hope to go to a foreign country to perform songs that were only a few weeks old, to an audience that might not know him, by himself for the first time ever. But as always, j-hope delivered marvelously. It is exciting to think of all the things that he could do in the future now that he has had his first solo performance, and ARMY will be anxiously waiting to see what he does next.
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Written By: Rachel
Edited By: Juju
Checked By: Shelley
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