I Am JoJo... Yes You Are
Rising from the ashes at O2 Islington Academy was American sweetheart and musician JoJo. The star hit the music scene back in 2004 with her hit single 'Leave (Get Out)' at 13 years old and had a further few hits with 'Too Little Too Late' and 'Baby It's You' before disappearing into a web of legal turmoil with her label, who, very bluntly, refused to release her music.
JoJo was trapped and for the next 10 years or so, she released music independently online and awaited freedom from her label. Welcome to 2016 and freedom and a new label had bestowed upon JoJo and she celebrated the moment with her tringle (a three single single) and her first UK tour in nearly 9 years.
The show opened on 'Baby It's You' and the pop party began... with a trip down memory lane with a mash-up of tracks from her very first album which ended with a swish rendition of 'Leave (Get Out)'. The party continued with the singles from her sophomore record 'The High Road'... 'Anything' and 'Too Little, Too Late'. JoJo described the tracks as "more personal" as she was able to experience heartbreak and her first real love before recording them.
The show then took a dip into JoJo's last few years as an artist where she performed her highly-popular cover of 'Marvin's Room', a track from her mixtape 'Can't Take That Away From Me' entitled 'Boy Without A Heart' and an EP track 'Demonstrate' before performing a fully fledged cover of Zayn's track 'PILLOWTALK' (an unusual cover choice considering her own track 'In The Dark' deals with the same subject matter and is far more of a superior track).
Throughout the entire show, JoJo's voice soared through every performance and she was particularly excited to perform the MNEK-produced 'Good Thing' (which is likely to be a single at some point). The track is an utter bop and was a highly energetic performance both from the audience and the star herself.
The show ended on dance bop 'When Love Hurts' and the highly emotional 'Save My Soul', a track JoJo dedicates to addiction and 'Say Love', a track about loving yourself.
The I Am JoJo Tour was a great experience to watch a metaphorical journey of JoJo's career... the highs, the lows and the aftermath of the low. On paper you would think doing bigger hits at the start of a show would be a strange concept however with the underlying theme of JoJo's career it makes complete sense.
The show closed on the tour title track 'I Am' with closing lyrics 'Because it feels like I'm not anything at all. But I am, I am, I am, I am beautiful' and with all the pain, heartbreak and career setbacks JoJo has experienced, she is herself and has a huge career ahead of herself.
