With two sold-out nights on April 4 and 6 in Los Angeles, j-hope, born Jung Hoseok, delivered the performance of a lifetime at BMO Stadium: commanding, poignant, and unforgettable. As ARMYs count down the months until BTS‘ highly anticipated return to civilian life, the ace of the group owned his superstardom, just like SUGA did two years prior on his solo tour. The Hope On The Stage tour was a perfect marriage of visual and sound artistry with an incredibly moving homage to dance.
The tour announcement came a couple of months after j-hope completed his military enlistment, indicating his desire to return to the stage. It marked the multi-hyphenate’s first set of live shows in North America since his iconic headlining Lollapalooza 2022 set. The L.A. shows were incredibly sentimental to both the audience and j-hope: for L.A. ARMY, these shows came after the L.A. wildfires ravaged the city landscape, and for j-hope, L.A. is known to be BTS’ second home.
j-hope didn’t spare a second to prove to the world again his larger-than-life prowess on stage, a type of performance master who comes once in a generation. His hands-on approach was evident in every detail from the staging, the outfits, and especially the setlist: It told a story of a male idol on a journey to find himself again after enlistment and a (j-)hope for a better future. The concert was split up into five different themes, encompassing the full scope of j-hope’s solo work to date. The first was Ambition.
The show began with the sounds of a car engine slowly revving while radio feedback crackled through the stadium’s speakers. Fanchants of the rapper’s name reverberated throughout the venue, a spine-tingling wave of devotion. It had been a long time coming: he had been away for four long years since his last appearance in L.A.
The opening VCR showed j-hope driving through a snowstorm in search of himself. He comes across a towering wall of boxes before uncovering the one marked “23” – a nod to the year he paused his stage activities for military service. Inside was his stage persona dressed in a vibrant red suit, dormant but poised and ready to rise again. As the screen turned black, fans started chanting his name. The main stage, outfitted with dynamic LED panels that rose and fell to create shifting textures and layers, lit up bright red alongside a slow piano crawl into “Intro,” the opening track of his critically acclaimed debut studio album, Jack in the Box.
j-hope emerged from the red LED stage to perform “What If…,” a powerful way to kick off the set. As he questioned if he would be anything without his BTS persona, j-hope glided across the stage, and his sheer confidence and valor told the crowd that, yes, he was worthy of all of this: the mesmerized and adoring crowd watching his every movement with intention.
As he descended from the pyramid of LED panels, he moved across the stage with a new level of confidence not yet seen in his career. The stadium suited him well as he seamlessly went through the other tracks from the same album. Visually, one could feel j-hope’s anger-fueled desire to leave the metaphorical box as if he were being held back all this time. From shining from the giant version of him banging back against the invisible wall on the LED screen during “Pandora’s Box” to the lava cracking the walls of the elevated stage during “Arson,” j-hope commanded the stage like a master, demanding the crowd to chant “Done, done, done” back to him.
“Stop” hit its peak as j-hope’s gaze cut through the stadium, commanding attention even over the raw power of the dark rock instrumentals. He paused for a moment to slowly imitate a gun going off, a grim reminder of the darkness of humanity. It was fitting, as BTS never shied away from talking about politics, and j-hope’s conveyance of seriousness and contained anger was obvious. His anger has been pent up for some time, finally releasing in a poised yet still fiery fashion.
The crowd was relentless back, matching the energy that he gave when he began his first ment. As j-hope quipped, “Am I in heaven? Full of angels here,” the audience continued to bark and chant his name, relishing in the moment.
After j-hope introduced “More,” the chants continued while he slipped back into his brooding demeanor. His stark red outfit, set against a sea of monochrome LED tiles and flanked by dancers clad in all black, created an optical illusion in motion that highlighted the rapper’s passion-fueled desire and hunger for more. The unbridled jumps and kicks from him and the dancers punched through the night air as his hard-hitting lyrics, “My work makes me breathe / So I want more!” felt like a bullet train. He was seizing the night for himself, taking no prisoners.
In the following VCR, the red-suited j-hope wakes and attempts to escape the confines of the box. A calendar on the wall is dated April 18, 2023, the day he enlisted in the military, is displayed. As he searches for a way out, an alarm is triggered, and as he tries to exit, the door seemingly repels farther away from him. The video cuts to the external j-hope carrying the box to his car before being directed to drive to Chungjang-dong, his hometown in Gwangju, South Korea. The video ends as the car drives by a road sign that reads: “Safety Zone,” an homage to his song.
The screen turned black again before yellow and brown butterfly-shaped confetti descended onto the stadium floor, bringing the audience back to the space. This new section, called Dream, is a callback to Jung Hoseok’s street dancing roots. j-hope materialized in a relaxed beanie and streetwear to perform his solo version “on the street” with city motifs of Brooklyn and Manhattan projected behind him on the large LED screens.
The mood changed when his backup dancers came to freestyle, a suitable homage to the street dancing j-hope likely honed while growing up in Gwangju. He soon appeared with a boombox — a clear nod to the ‘90s street dance scene — and hit play to perform songs from Hope on the Street Vol. 1, his love letter to the dance culture that shaped his youth. The section featured j-hope performing alongside standout street dancers, each representing key styles: The now-infamous dancer, Neal, showcased locking in the funky track “lock / unlock.” At the same time, Sinvy brought fluid house choreography to the minimal “i don’t know.” The final track “i wonder…” featured Firebac and Tutat, displaying their popping and tutting skills. The showcase spotlighted the dance styles j-hope respects and excels in as he delivered his masterful moves during LE SSERAFIM’s Yunjin and Jung Kook’s lines in their respective songs.
The highlight of the night was “Trivia 起: Just Dance,” which hasn’t been performed in L.A. since the 2019 BTSLove Yourself: Speak Yourself tour at the Rose Bowl Stadium. The purple musical graphics were a major flashback for those who were there. Although the water cannons didn’t go off during the song’s climax like last time, streamers did, creating the same mesmerizing effect.
After a short intermission, VCR for the next section, Expectations, smoke enveloped the stage before “Sweet Dreams.” It featured R&B singer-songwriter Miguel, whose sweet vocals echoed throughout the stadium as ARMYs sang along loudly back, much to his surprise. Miguel’s eyes widened as many featured artists do when they interact with ARMY. The energy was electric and dream-like, exactly what “Sweet Dreams” should be.
The recently released viral hit track, “Mona Lisa,” was a delight to watch. Many fans learned the song’s choreography and danced in their seats, occasionally screaming in reaction to seeing his sensual dance moves in person.
For the next section, aptly titled Fantasy, j-hope asked the crowd to go “back in time” and recall his mixtapes and BTS tracks that he produced. Stunningly, he began the set with “1 VERSE,” which was a major throwback for the older ARMYs as they screamed in a frenzy. He made his way off the mainstage and headed towards the secondary stage, specifically prepared for this final North American stadium tour stop. As he swept through the walkway, ARMYs extended their arms out to touch the star’s hands for a brief interaction.
j-hope performed a few hype-filled tracks from his Hope World mixtape, including “Base Line” and “HANGSANG.” He instructed the crowd to “get low” prior, a command that a few older ARMYs laughed about after sacrificing their knees to do so. The audience on the floor gained incredible energy from j-hope himself, as he grabbed water bottles and doused those closest to the stage. The set continued with the BTS songs j-hope wrote, including the spectacular and seamless transition of Hope World’s “Airplane” to “Airplane Pt. 2”; BTS concert staples like “Mic Drop” and “Silver Spoon”; and j-hope’s version of “Dis-Ease.” L.A. ARMY did not disappoint, and perfectly nailed the expected BTS member fanchants.
j-hope ended the section with the bombastic “Outro: Ego,” from Map of the Soul: 7, “Daydream,” and “Chicken Noodle Soup.” It felt like a marathon at this point, and the colorful illustrations across the LED screens perfectly captured j-hope’s creative and vast imagination. During “Chicken Noodle Soup,” the audience showed off once again by singing Becky G’s Spanish verses with flawless ease.
During both nights, j-hope was emotional, teary-eyed on the first night, and shared his true feelings at the final show. He expressed his doubts openly during the final ment, a type of vulnerability that wasn’t present at all during the course of the show. While j-hope was confident in his performances, he was honest with ARMY, offering a glimpse into his uncertainties before going on tour.
“Will I actually hold a solo concert on my own?” he pondered to the crowd. “And I also wonder, ‘Will I be ever be able to go on a tour for all of these global fans?’ I also wonder if I would be able to hold this meaningful concert at a stadium all by myself? But I actually did them all! … In the beginning, I was a bit afraid, and I kind of doubted myself, too. But I always felt like I was little, I had to experience everything myself. I have to really come into all of these experiences myself to know myself better and to know the world.”
He thanked ARMYs, and shared that he was proud of them, the staff, and the production crew. It was a humility that BTS exuded that ARMYs and the world fell in love with, and there was not a dry eye in the stadium.
Lastly, the end of the show couldn’t commence without j-hope’s infamous introduction: “I’m your hope. You’re my hope. I’m j-hope!” and ending with the most j-hope song possible, “Hope World.” While the pyrotechnics went off, he introduced the live band that played insane guitar and drum riffs before he exited off-stage before the encore.
The final VCR marked the end of the cold, snowy journey. Up until this point, we saw two j-hopes, one in all red stuck in a box, and another in all black, delivering this box somewhere. The two j-hopes united and merged together backstage of a set, preparing for the tour he ended embarked on for the past month. He grabbed the box and opened it to reveal an infinity mirror box, reflecting fans screaming in the background, symbolizing his return to the stage.
The BMO Stadium lights turned on again and the real j-hope emerged, wearing the Los Angeles jersey from the tour’s merchandise line and adorable silver glasses. He embraced the same infinity mirror box in the VCR, revealing that it was the mini version of the stage he stood on. The final section of the set was Wish. As he called ARMYs his “safe zone” with “Safety Zone” playing in the background, the stadium lit up in purple lights from the ARMY bombs, signaling the amount of love j-hope has for the fans.
The most memorable moment of the night happened during “= (Equal Sign).” For every night of the tour, j-hope selected a fan to interact with before beginning the empathetic anthem. On the last night, he picked a Black ARMY, commenting, “You look so good!” before giving her a protective hug of adoration and respect. It was what “Equal Sign” was about, and it was met with warm praise. j-hope continued with “Future” and “Neuron,” a call for hope and to never forget one’s roots, to an array of fireworks and confetti. The future was bright after all — BTS is coming back in a couple of months.
j-hope also used his time to highlight his backup dancers, who brought the whole house down throughout the entire night. It was refreshing and different to see a K-Pop idol give their backup dancer a lot of opportunities to showcase their talents, even shouting them out individually and flashing their names up on screen. It was a huge sign of respect, and without his dancers giving their all, the show wouldn’t be as unforgettable as it was.
Watching j-hope was like witnessing a live masterclass in performance. His personas on stage matched perfectly with a flawless and cohesive setlist. It told the story of a man who doubted himself, grew in confidence, and bloomed through adversity and love from his fans. He never forgot where he came from, taking it all back from the rookie years to the beginnings of his solo career. The dedication was apparent, and it was time that j-hope got his flowers.
And indeed, he got those flowers. He got them all.