SAINt JHN LIVE AT TERMINAL 5, NEW YORK CITY, NOVEMBER 10, 2021: CONCERT REVIEW

A Cult-Like Homecoming Where SAINt JHN Preached Originality Inside His Underground Church

(Updated from an article originally posted on tripmuze.com on January 18, 2022)

Originality.

That was what I was craving so bad until SAINt JHN showed up at New York City’s Terminal 5. Spending 2 hours standing with seeing the uncharacteristic supporting acts was such a painful experience. A young female twin DJ duo (Angel + Dren) was too flat without any impressive mix and their own identity. It seemed like the ladies didn’t know how to use their expensive equipment effectively. Just blasting music loudly from the speakers without any processing. Did they mix music? I doubted. They tried to convince the audience to get excited with the flat music. Indeed, many young audiences did, but my body was unmoved. Their movement was boring as hell, too. They just repeated the same movement, bouncing their body left and right over and over. The next supposed-to-be-an-upcoming-bright-star rapper (Tyla Yaweh) kept posing as tough, strong, and ghetto, but his voice was absolutely powerless. Was he really rapping or lip-syncing? The only time I clearly heard from his mouth was when he was speaking. Don’t blame the sound system (in fact, sound quality during both supporting acts was awful). I’ve seen many unknown artists who impressed the audience with poor sound quality. Talent matters. Both of them followed the trend and failed to establish their artistic identities, which is the biggest issue of the current music scene. That wasn’t a college party. The concert was a professional opportunity for both to impress their talent, but they missed the opportunity for their future.

Looking at the supporting acts strongly reminded me how much SAINt JHN established his own originality that attracted worldwide music fans since his major debut with the second album in 2019, Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs. I instantly knew he would be big upon hearing the album. Though influenced by hip-hop, reggae, and other Caribbean music, SAINt JHN created his original music and style like no other. Can you really explain the genre of SAINt JHN”s music? Not exactly hip-hop. He doesn’t give a fuck about genre but plays real music; cultic and gothic yet catchy urban underground music with rocking buffed bass and chorus. And thank god, he can sing. An unforgettable, deep, and thick voice, I can feel his emotion. A pleasure to be brainwashed.

I was confident that SAINt JHN would perform a fantastic show prior to the concert because of his originality, but after the bad start of the show by the boring supporting acts, I was afraid that SAINt JHN would be the same. I sincerely hoped that wouldn’t happen. Well, my concern was short-lived.

SAINt JHN was a messiah, the savior

SAINt JHN started his concert with acapella of “Wedding Day”, the first song of Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs, like he knew exactly how to show his raw talent. Acapella! Simply beautiful. I was awed and shaken in front of him and his voice. His voice was a thousand times thicker than Tyla Yaweh's. More powerful than recording and, wow, even more beautiful than the original. The intro was inspirational, like hymns. Even though “Wedding Day” was one of SAINt JHN’s best songs, he presented an enhanced version. He succeeded in grabbing all the attention from the audience before the masterpiece blasted with background sound. SAINt JHN kicked off a good start at his much-anticipated homecoming concert. For many of the audience, including me, that was their first concert after the long pandemic. Their voltage reached at max instantly.

My overall impression about SAINt JHN: what strong throat and lungs he had! He kept moving all over the stage and dancing throughout the concert, but his thick voice was never flat or faded. Though his body didn’t get still even a bit, his voice was stable for most of the concert. And his movement was a thousand times more stunning than Angel + Dren.

Not only the stability. SAINt JHN’s voice had more variants than the albums. His vocal performance on “All I Want Is A Yacht” from Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs was speedier than the sports car on the large stage display (Porsche?), which was probably running 150 mph on the screen. His voice was more rocking and energetic than the recordings on party anthems like “Trap”, “94 Bentley”, and “Anything Can Happen” and led fans into joyful chaos. On the other hand, his voice was more sentimental, like a serenade with “Sucks To Be You”, which he sang to a sexy female performer on the large cross, than his latest While The World Was Burning album, as well as being emotional with “Trophies” that he sang on Harley. “I Can Fvcking Tell”, another song with the lady, was dramatic like a rock opera. I can’t wait to see his next concert with a live band and singers because his voice would gain more dynamism (the background and chorus were recordings). He deserved to be praised more as a vocalist.

And his strong persona. Like almighty. Visually, his stunning physique gave that impression. Technically, his dynamic singing skills made it possible. SAINt JHN’s radical charisma dominated the venue under his influence throughout the show. He didn’t talk much, but fans kept being drowned in the stunna. He never said sing, but each of his actions naturally made his fans sing louder with more excitement. I had an impression that SAINt JHN was the artist who was good at putting the audience under his control. When an accident happened…the microphone was suddenly dead while singing “High School Reunion”…his strategy was to remain calm and put fans under his control with his eyes so he would be able to change the microphone while the audience was singing the chorus louder without knowing the accident (in fact, I didn’t notice until looking at my video later on). He stared strongly at the fans, raised his finger, and simply gestured to sing by waving his index finger. Fans raised their fists with more excitement and happily sang the chorus. He showed his dance while fans were singing, then naturally tossed the microphone to the staff and was back to singing immediately after receiving the new microphone. I saw his professionalism. Everything was natural without interrupting the excitement, rather giving more excitement by an accident.

Another notable thing was a large video wall behind SAINt JHN, on which a variety of comical scenes, mainly riders-from-hell-themed skeleton comics, matched with SAINt JHN’s music, were projected. The screen quality was super high-definition, like 4k. The colors were so transparent and beautiful, one of the best to provide at a concert. Each comical scene was mysteriously eye-catching, even repeated, and succeeded in giving vivid visual effects synced with SAINt JHN’s dynamic body movement. The beautiful visual effect reminded me of Flying Lotus’ highly praised 3D concert tour in 2017 (read FLYING LOTUS CONCERT REVIEW. BROOKLYN STEEL, BROOKLYN, NOVEMBER 6, 2017 (MON)). Though SAINt JHN’s concert wasn’t a 3D show, crystal-clear comical entertainment on the large screen was similar. Because of the large screen, the stage didn’t have the impression of emptiness besides a motorbike on the left and a large cross, another stage for SAINt JHN, on the right. A comfortable space for him to move around.

SAINt JHN turned Terminal 5 into his underground church. The saint said not a cult, but that night was a cult with the full of his followers who didn’t mind “in case we all die young” together with SAINt JHN. At the same time, the saint showed the bright feature in the dark. It would be a matter of time he would step up to the bigger venue. And the saint proved he’d already had what he needed for a bigger success. Not many dancers. Not a bigger stage set. But his music. And his voice.

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OVERALL SCORE: 93/100

• Performance: ★★★★+1/2
• Excitement / Fire: ★★★★+3/4
• Vocals: ★★★★+3/4
• Instrumental: ★★★★
• Sound: ★★★★
• Setlist: ★★★★★
• Stage Setting / Lighting: ★★★★★
• Better Than the Recordings: ★★★★★
• Chemistry with the Audience: ★★★★★