Three years after his sold-out Pandemonium Tour lit up the United Center, Joji returned to Chicago on June 23 for his SOLARIS Tour. American rapper Corbin opened the show at 6:30 p.m., his melancholic voice quieting a crowd that was still finding its seats. The up-and-coming singer-songwriter Nate Sib then took over with upbeat electronic production, jolting the room awake just as it began to stir with anticipation for the main act.
George Miller, who performs under his stage name Joji, was initially known for creating controversial YouTube skits under the names “Filthy Frank” and “Pink Guy” from 2011 to 2017, before he stopped posting content due to health reasons. While Miller was deeply invested in his YouTube career, he had long shown interest in musical side projects, releasing a full-length album, Pink Guy, in 2014, which showcased some of his natural talent at creating music.
He would go on to release his first EP, In Tongues, in 2017 and his first studio album, Ballads 1, in 2018 under the name Joji, the Japanese version of his name. His song “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” entered the Billboard Hot 100 charts and ARIA Charts, officially marking the start of his transition from a YouTube personality to a fully mature artist. By the time Joji released the albums Nectar in 2020 and Smithereens in 2022, he was already a household name. Once Piss in the Wind came out in 2026, the SOLARIS Tour announcement followed.
By the time Nate Sib left the stage, United Center was at full capacity, and chants of “Joji” began to ricochet throughout the venue. Then, the main show began: smoke filled the stage and the lights flickered. Screams erupted from every corner of the arena, drowning out the opening notes. Suddenly, the instrumentals transitioned into “PIXELATED KISSES” and Joji appeared onstage, while cheers rang out like thunder within the venue.
As the concert went on, the set changed fluidly, representing the different eras in Joji’s career. Complementing each song was a screen projection that you could not help but look at. “worldstar money (interlude)” was enhanced by a sandy, lava-like image, while “Past Won’t Leave My Bed” saw a more futuristic projection. Cool blues and metallic silvers pulsed across the screen, forming a digital landscape composed of geometric shapes that vibrated along to the song’s melancholic beat.
A recurring symbol on the screen throughout the show was a cryptic white figure, too tall and skinny to be human, an unsettling undercurrent beneath the show’s spectacle. Fans online have speculated about the underlying message behind the mysterious figure and its recurrences, the prevailing opinion being that it is the tour’s mascot.
Joji’s production has come a long way since his last tour, Pandemonium, during which cube-shaped platforms and industrial, textured visuals set an intimate lo-fi mood. The SOLARIS Tour, on the other hand, mesmerized the audience with towering and immersive screens that seemed to breathe alongside the music, elevating every note of his performance.
Though the production has changed, Joji’s fanbase has remained just as passionate and locked in as ever, singing along to every word throughout all eras of Joji’s music. Two moments from the show stood out above the rest. During “Like You Do,” a song known for its slow tempo and serene atmosphere, the audience members collectively turned on their phone flashlights, waving them back and forth to create an ocean of lights that rippled along with the song. It was a lightshow of the crowd’s own making, rivaling the projections that had lit up the stage all night. The moment offered a stark contrast to the intensity of the previous songs, giving the audience a respite from the long and energetic set.
Then came “Last of a Dying Breed,” during which—if the gangly white figure wasn’t confusing enough—an actual robot stepped out onto the stage, performing mechanical dances and even the Orange Justice dance from the video game Fortnite. The comedic cameo drew laughs from the crowd and reinforced Joji’s long history of incorporating his sense of humor into his tours, serving as a reminder that, beneath the polished visuals and emotional vocals, he has never strayed far from the goofball energy that first built his fanbase.
The night ended the way nearly every Joji show has ended since 2018: with an encore of “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK.” After two hours of fog machines, lasers, and obscure stage props, there was something almost disarming about watching Joji close it out with the song that kicked off his career as a musician in the first place—stripped down, sincere, and carried by thousands of voices singing along. It felt like a full-circle moment. The same artist who once relinquished the “Pink Guy” persona to be taken seriously as a musician, who built his early sound in the bedroom, was now closing a sold-out arena show at one of the largest indoor venues in the world—proof of just how far both Joji and the production team around him have come since Pandemonium. Walking out of United Center and back into the warm June night, it was hard not to feel the weight of that distance: the same raw sincerity that first built his fanbase was now being delivered on a scale George Miller could scarcely have imagined back in his Filthy Frank days.
