J-Hope Proves His Home is On the Stage in Brooklyn

“Like the name of this tour, I’m at my happiest when I’m on the stage,” J-Hope declared during his March 14 show at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, the first North American stop on his solo tour Hope on the Stage. His joy was evident in his nearly two and a half hour concert. Embarking on a world tour mere months after returning from his military service, BTS’ dance leader and rapper thrilled with his boundless energy, considerable charisma, and well-rounded performance skills. One would not guess he had ever stepped away from the stage.

Concerts, including many of BTS’, often begin with high-intensity sets with complex choreography and become looser later on in the setlist. In Hope on the Stage, however, J-Hope seemed to gain energy as the night progressed. Rather than beginning with dance, the show opened dramatically, with the whole stage bathed in red as J-Hope brought his low rasp to “What If?” In the five songs he performed from 2022’s Jack in the Box, he delivered his raps and vocals with grit and intensity matching the soul-searching of that album. The live band underscored his fervor, especially in the powerful percussion in “Arson” and the snarling guitar in “More.”

Fitting for an album alluding to Pandora’s box, the stage primarily consisted of 15 cubes that could ascend and descend. While draped in a red sheet during “What If?”, the platforms rose and fell as if the stage were breathing. In “Pandora’s Box,” video screens on the sides of the boxes created the impression that they trapped shadowy jack-in-the-box figures within them. In this first set, the stage seemed like a manifestation of J-Hope’s doubts and fears. 

The stage platform, however, continued to reconfigure itself creatively during the second set, showcasing songs from last year’s Hope on the Street Vol. 1. In “On the Street,” J-Hope strolled along a line of boxes as the video projections scrolled through footage of the Brooklyn Bridge, city streets, and the subway. In “Lock/Unlock,” the boxes recreated a boombox, and then a cityscape in “I Wonder.”

In the Jack in the Box section, the dancers appeared as ominous silhouettes, but in Hope on the Street section, J-Hope paid homage to his street dance roots by spotlighting various dancers in breaks and intros. Of course, he also shone on his own, with both groove and popping and locking, and he synchronized with a female partner standing in for Huh Yun-jin in “I Don’t Know.” By the time he energetically launched into “Trivia: Just Dance,” it was already clear how much the show celebrated dance and dancers. 

The first two parts of the show portrayed J-Hope’s personal journey prior to his military service, delving into his doubts and then reclaiming his love of dance. J-Hope then showed his current interest in more romantic and sexy concepts with his single “Sweet Dreams” (featuring Miguel via video screen) and forthcoming release “Mona Lisa.” Premiering “Mona Lisa” during the Brooklyn shows, J-Hope mesmerized with his sultry body rolls.

More surprises came in the uninterrupted run of 12 mostly high-energy songs, beginning with SoundCloud favorite “1Verse” and Hope World’s “Base Line,” “Hangsang,” and “Airplane.” His swagger and confident flow and delivery proved his considerable skill as a rapper.

Following “Airplane,” J-Hope transitioned from Hope World’s hip hop tracks to a series of snippets from BTS songs, starting with “Airplane Pt. 2.” J-Hope performed both his rap verse and the point choreography from the chorus, showing off his sharp, yet flowing moves. He then ramped up the energy even more with fan favorite “Silver Spoon” (or “Baepsae”), bringing the hip thrusts and half-splits that have rightfully been the center of many stage compilation videos.

The audience at Barclays Center was consistently enthusiastic, but reached a peak with the BTS fanchant at the intro for “Mic Drop.” Then the powerful shouts of Suga’s line “미안해 엄마 (mianhae eomma)” even took J-Hope aback for a second. The palpable excitement from the crowd formed a synergy with J-Hope, with he and ARMY lifting up each other. “You speak Korean,” he quipped after leading fans in a call and response at the end of “Dis-ease.” ARMY also expertly filled in for Becky G’s parts in English and Spanish during “Chicken Noodle Soup.” In an age when many spectators quietly film on their phones, ARMYs’ cheering, chanting, singing, and dancing made the night special. 

With all that positivity, it is understandable that J-Hope finds himself feeling home on the stage. He made this point very clear through the show’s visual metaphors. Specifically, a series of VCRs portrayed J-Hope trapped in a red room (recalling the color schemes of the Jack in the Box staging). After escape attempts repeatedly led him back to the room, he managed to open a door and drive to his “safety zone,” an arena. During the encore, a casually dressed J-Hope carried a miniature replica of the stage that he considered “precious.” The VCRs and the stage prop completed the story told throughout the show: that J-Hope has come to embrace his passion for performance.

This passion particularly came through toward the end of the main set in jubilant numbers like “Outro: Ego” and “Hope World,” for which J-Hope bounced around the stage and showed incredible stamina. Meanwhile, his upbeat encore set, “= (Equal Sign),” “Future,” and “Neuron,” reflected contentment with the past and optimism for the future. In particular, “Neuron,” performed in front of footage from BTS dance practices, felt both poignant and joyous. The song turned into an uplifting anthem as he held up his microphone for ARMY to sing the choral lines, “I’ll tell you again, we’ll never ever give up forever. I’ll say it again, we’ll always be alive to move us.”

Through Hope on the Stage, J-Hope has proven himself to be an electrifying performer who can command the stage like virtually no one else. Based on the storytelling of the concert and J-Hope’s sheer joy while performing, he also knows he is back where he belongs.

(YouTube. Images via Big Hit Entertainment/HYBE, Seoulbeats).