On March 2, a sold-out crowd at The Independent in San Francisco eagerly awaited Korean-Canadian artist Junny to take the stage. Junny’s supporting DJ, Daul, opened with his own set, hyping up the crowd with R&B hits like RAYE’s “Confidence.” Unlike most shows, the audience didn’t need to wait between the opening and main acts, and Junny hopped onto the stage as Daul’s set wound down, jumping right into the first song of the night’s performance, “Passion, Pain & Pleasure.”
For eight years, Junny has been singing and writing songs, and is credited with contributing to major hits for prominent K-Pop groups like NCT. A talented and versatile artist in his own right, his discography consists of a mix of R&B, hip-hop, and pop, and he brought a taste of each to his [null] North America Tour. Watching Junny perform live and the various moods he embodied through his performances, it’s no wonder he drew a sold-out crowd. While performing the first three songs of his set, all from his newest album “null,” Junny elicited hoots and hollers from the crowd with his body rolls. A few songs in, he shed his suit jacket, since he was, as he put it, “drenched” from the sweatiness of his efforts. During a groovy, synth-heavy rendition of “Early,” he brought out a water bottle to spray the crowd, generating even more cheers. Throughout his set, Junny transitioned smoothly from the sensuality of sexier songs like “Provider” to adopting a more endearing quality in his more poppy ballads like “Movie.” A multifaceted performer, he also performed “Weight of Time,” a nearly eight-minute-long rhapsody consisting of four distinct sections that he said he wanted to include in its entirety in his tour in order to do it justice. Before launching into “Weight of Time,” he promised his audience, “We’re gonna put our heart and soul into it.”
What stood out even more than Junny’s ability to seamlessly switch between different vibes was his earnest demeanor, not just as a musician, but as a person. For a talented celebrity, Junny comes across as approachable and honest in his representation of himself. When introducing his song “Not About You,” which he wrote about an ex, he jokingly told the crowd, “It’s been four fucking years and I’m still talking about it.” Junny also shared his admiration for Colde, a Korean rapper and producer, who was his collaborator on the song “limbo.” He described Colde as his mentor and confided that he couldn’t sleep from excitement after receiving heartfelt praise from him. Notably, Junny also sang an acoustic version of his track, “Thank You,” showing off his natural skill as he hit the high notes with ease. Released in 2018, “Thank You” was one of the first songs Junny first released under his name, and by including it in this tour almost a decade later, he shows how closely he holds his roots. During his monologue toward the end of the night, he described himself as a “kid from Vancouver” who gets to do what he loves for a living because of the people who listen and support his music.
What separates a good concert from a great concert is the artist’s ability to connect with the crowd, and in Junny’s case, his willingness to be vulnerable with his fans only amplified the energy of his performance. In his interactions with the audience, Junny often directed his microphone out into the crowd, inviting them to sing along. At one point, he took a phone offered by a fan in the front row and took a selfie video with her. The energy at The Independent that night could be described as symbiotic, with the crowd feeding off Junny’s lively and earnest performance and Junny embracing the adoration and excitement from his fans. He admitted that, with the tour coming to a close soon, he had felt himself losing steam after the previous show, but this concert in San Francisco infused him with a renewed spirit. Towards the end of the night, Junny received a gift from a fan—a large flag featuring the outline of the iconic San Francisco skyline with his name “JUNNY” above and the words “BAY AREA” below. Junny wrapped it around himself as he sang his last few songs, the flag draped around his shoulders like a superhero’s cape.
After Junny’s performance of “Invitation” earlier in the night, he had remarked how touched he was to see the crowd’s excited reaction as the first chords came in. When he returned for an encore, he reprised the song in a second and final performance, closing the night on just as high a note as he started it.