Show Review: JoJo with Emmy Meli at The Warfield, 3/6/25

JoJo has spent the last 21 years as the “other” one. When she was a 13-year-old prodigy, she was marketed as the “new” Aaliyah. She spent years making movies and putting out records without achieving the notoriety of fellow prodigies of her era like Hilary Duff and Miley Cyrus. I can’t decide if this is bad or not. She has immense talent, but it’s also allowed her to create her own identity and continue pushing the boundaries of what you would define as R&B or Pop. Her sound has developed in a way that places her as a precursor to boundary pushers like SZA and The Weeknd, and the folks that kept their ears on her learned this.

I feel like in 2025, with her new EP, NGL, and her book, Over The Influence, it’s time for JoJo to make her formal re-introduction. This live show cements that.

The opening act was Emmy Meli. She took the stage entirely alone, to an audience that didn’t know her. And she *killed* it. She brought the confidence and added some humanity with a gag, asking the crowd to “scream as loud as they can” while she’s drinking water so she doesn’t have to hear her swallowing. It worked! By the end of the set, she was doing call and response and had the crowd in her hands. After her set was over, I was walking through the venue lobby, and there was suddenly a very long line to meet Emmy and buy her merch.

[Show as slideshow]

Supported by a solid, all-female three-piece band, JoJo appeared from a shadow behind the drummer and opened the show with the double-headed disco burn of NGL‘s “off again” and “Nobody,” then appeasing the crowd with the debut record cut “Baby It’s You.” However, it didn’t seem like she needed to dip into the classics because the audience gave right back from the get-go.

JoJo’s voice is such a potent thing. At times conjuring the multi-octave virtuosity of vintage Mariah Carey, the neofuturistic sultry intonation of Aaliyah, the confidence of Chaka Khan, and the intensity of someone who has dealt with some shit and survived. Every syllable sent chills down me. JoJo clearly was singing live, and the only time a canned “assist” was audible was when there simply weren’t enough JoJos on stage to cover what the song needed. She commanded the stage like the 20+ year veteran she is.

Notable highlights from the set? She pulled a random guy from the crowd to sing to on stage, only for him to coerce her into dueting SWV’s “Weak” with him. He was probably a bit “more” than she expected, but she also knew that this moment was his “moment” and gave him the magical experience he dreamed of. And, although the set was pretty heavily focused on newer material (which is excellent. JoJo- GIVE US VINYL OF NGL! I’d buy it in a hot second!), the double header main set closer of “Leave (Get Out)” and “Too Little Too Late” was 00’s nostalgia heart bursting goodness, and getting to sing those lyrics with 2500 other folks that have been sitting with those songs for two decades was AMAZING. And instead of leaving with a ballad, she brought the energy UP, closing with “Good Things.” and “Porcelain,” bringing us to a sweaty mess, and really upset that this was over. Sadly, the pleas for an encore went ignored, and we left the show feeling the magic and hoping we would experience it again very soon.