NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
As R&B singer/songwriter JoJo (aka Joanna Noëlle Levesque) embarked on her “Too Much to Say” Tour in 2025, it seemed like she has been around forever and maybe that’s because she was only thirteen when her 2004 debut single “Leave (Get Out)” hit number one on Billboard’s US pop chart. While her first three studio albums were all US Billboard top ten albums and she dipped her toes (ok, probably dipped her feet up to her knees) into acting, appearing in several movies and quite a number of television shows, the last few years have been less kind. With just 2020’s “Good to Know” getting to 33 on the album chart and the single “Man” from the same album hitting 38 on the pop chart, it seemed like her career was on a decline. The past year has been a bit of a comeback as she released her memoir “Over the Influence” in September 2024 and her latest EP, “NGL”, both speaking to her resilience in the face of many challenges and the perseverance that’s helped her get where she is today. Judging by the packed Danforth Music Hall, it seems her Toronto fans are still as fervid as ever.
Opening for JoJo was another R&B singer Emmy Meli, who achieved instant fame when a snippet of “I Am Woman” went viral on TikTok in October 2021, prompting her to actually have to finish writing the song. She released her debut EP, “Hello Stranger”, in May 2024 and was an a big hit with the Toronto crowd, her beautiful voice ringing out through the venue. Her set was a brief eight songs, culminating in (what else?) “I Am Woman”!
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In between sets, I took a look at the merch table to see what was on offer and discovered that the line had gone up the stairs, across to the other side, and down the other stairs. One t-shirt had already sold out with several other t-shirts/crew necks/hoodies down to just a couple of sizes. JoJo’s fans obviously can’t get enough of her.
When she took the stage, she kicked off her set with the first two tracks from “NCT”, “Off Again” and “Nobody”. The stage setup was pretty basic with drummer Payton Taylor on a platform stage right and bassist Kyla Wright and keyboardist AMI on a platform stage left. There was a ramp between the two platforms, allowing JoJo to run back and forth when she wanted. Her boundless energy was infectious as she moved back and forth along the stage. While we loved Emmy Meli’s voice, JoJo’s vocals just blew us away. She can really belt!! Her set was a nice combination of songs from throughout her career as well as four covers. She did engage with the crowd in between songs but everything felt like it was rushing by, especially since she ended up performing twenty three songs!!
As she has been doing, JoJo brought someone on-stage to sing a song with her and while nothing’s going to beat the gentleman that was brought on-stage in Chicago, the woman who sang with JoJo also had an excellent voice! You must have to audition to be allowed into a JoJo concert!
It’s hard to say the concert was too short but it felt like it could have easily gone a few songs longer. She did play the biggest hits from early in her career “Leave (Get Out)”, which became a huge sing-a-long, and “Too Little Too Late” and wrapped up the encore with another oldie “Never Say Goodbye” as she indeed had to say farewell and good night to her happy fans.
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