Thursday night brought pop-punk to Chicago as jxdn continued his Tell Me About Tomorrow tour with a sold-out show at the House of Blues.
The 3-piece WOC pop-punk band Meet Me @ The Altar was first on the stage as they brought their frenzied and contagious energy with opening songs “May the Odds Be in Your Favor” and “Mapped Out,” before following with their female-empowerment anthem “Hit Like A Girl.” The trio consists of vocalist Edith Johnson, bassist/guitarist Téa Campbell and drummer Ada Juarez. The band ended their set with tracks “Now Or Never,” “Beyond My Control,” “Feel A Thing,” and “Garden.”
Next on the stage was producer, songwriter, and vocalist Jasiah. Preferring not to be called a rapper but an artist who transcends genres, Jasiah’s set was full of rock, emo rap, pop-punk, and R&B influences. A born performer, Jasiah never stopped moving even after telling fans that he has asthma, but doesn’t let it stop him. Starting his set with “Crisis” and “Right Now,” Jasiah then performed his most recent release “Earthquake” before covering “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” by Panic! at the Disco. Following up with “Break Shit” and “Shenanigans,” Jasiah chose to slow it down by singing his self-described campfire song “When I’m Gone” from the middle of the packed crowd. Things quickly ramped up again as Jasiah closed with “Lockdown,” “Art of War,” and the unreleased track “Imagination Station.”
The venue was filled with piercing screams as curtains opened to reveal jxdn’s set-up, as his touring drummer Tosh Peterson and guitarist Kenji Chan took their respective positions on stage. jxdn (Jaden Hossler) shortly after ran onto the stage with a boundless energy that would continue full-force through his 20-song set. Beginning with tracks off his debut 2021 album Tell Me About Tomorrow, jxdn performed “THINK ABOUT ME,” “DEAD OR ALIVE,” and “DTA” before moving on to “LAST TIME” and “BRAINDEAD.” He took the time to tell a personal story to the crowd about how late Chicago artist Juice WRLD saved his life by inspiring him to become a musician, as he proceeded to cover Juice WRLD’s track “Armed & Dangerous” while decked out in a Juice WRLD jersey.
The energy continued as jxdn performed “A WASTED YEAR” and “FUCKED UP” before dashing off stage and leaving fans confused – until he re-appeared on the second-level balcony of the venue; where he sang “PRAY” while barely holding on to the balcony. The rest of jxdn’s performance continued in a wonderful frenzy as he performed “ANGELS & DEMONS PT. 2,” “CRACK MY SKULL,” and “TELL ME ABOUT TOMORROW” before once again getting real with fans and singing his first-ever release “Comatose” from 2020.
The night finished off with “LIPS” before jxdn covered the track “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus – a song no fans expected to be sung at a pop-punk concert. jxdn did not have an encore, but did finish his set with “WANNA BE,” “BETTER OFF DEAD,” and “ANGELS & DEMONS.”
Photos by Ann Storlie (@ast_lie) and Website
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