Joji embraces the melancholy at co-op live

By Jaime John

 Kids raised on YouTube in the early 2000s may remember Filthy Frank, a wildly chaotic comedian and creator known for his often vulgar but loved skits. One might be surprised to learn that he is the same person responsible for Joji’s romantic, melancholic hits like ‘Glimpse of Us’ and ‘SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK’. In 2026, Joji returned after a long hiatus to tour his new album, Piss In The Wind, with two shows in the UK: one at The O2 in London, and the other at the Co-op Live in Manchester.

The crowd was very young, consisting mostly of young adults, teenagers, and a disproportionately high number of couples. Outfits remained consistent, too, with most donning some shade of red with the rest of their outfits typically black—this is owed fully to the fact that two of Joji’s notable album releases, Nectar (2020) and Piss In The Wind, maintained that colour scheme for album covers and related media. On the other hand, there were a considerable number of people clad in skin-tight, fuscia-coloured bodysuits, homage to one of Joji’s previous personas, Pink Guy. They remained true to character, with one Pink Guy nearby hollering and goofing around while waiting for the show to begin. 

The night began at 8PM with a twenty-minute set from Tommy Richman. Playing a song from his upcoming album, Hear Me Now, he dedicated it to his mother who was born deaf, just fitted with cochlear implants. With this, Richman gave it his all to rile up the crowd, ending the set with the song that, in his words, “changed my life”: ‘MILLION DOLLAR BABY’. Regrettably, the crowd’s spirits were not for Richman; it could be argued that people were there to see Joji, a notoriously sorrowful artist, but even for a song known by so many, the fact that people didn’t seem to have any response to it was disappointing. Luckily, there was a group of friends right next to me on the floor who had enough energy for everyone, often rallying people up to cheer, clap, and sway as the music went on. 

The wait for Joji to arrive was strangely entertaining. Towards the front right of the pit, one individual began stacking up used plastic cups, and after one fan’s successful shot, landing their cup directly onto the stack from a large distance, a boredom-induced brawl ensued, consisting of ten solid minutes of cup-throwing from everyone on the floor towards the original tower’s direction. Concert videos surfacing online have lovingly dubbed this section of the night “The Great Cup War.” Soon after, the first seated level entertained themselves with a few rounds of Mexican waves.

With all of that over, after a long wait, Joji appeared onstage at 9PM, opening his set with ‘PIXELATED KISSES’, the first song released from Piss In The Wind. This was closely followed by ‘Sojourn’, another release from the same album. Joji’s calm, deep vocals were accompanied by booming bass through the speakers and stark, crimson-red visuals. Throughout the show, graphics displayed varied between the Joji-brand red in various forms, as well as glitch-like, high-contrast backgrounds and vivid, kaleidoscope-esque patterns. Most notably, for the calmer, more pensive songs, there featured surreal silhouettes resembling glowing wendigos crawling around in a murky, forest-like setting. 

For the show’s duration, the crowd’s demeanor varied. Clusters of people danced at the more sonically upbeat releases like ‘Sojourn’, ‘Pretty Boy’, and ‘Gimme Love’, and sang their hearts out for angsty hits such as ‘Hotel California’ and ‘Blah Blah’. One man also proposed to his girlfriend during ‘Sanctuary’. Overall, the crowd behaved exactly as one might expect of the demographic attracted by Joji’s music: calm and introspective, with noticeable rises in singing or dancing along when called for. 

Contrary to what one may find from Joji’s previous tours and shows, he maintained a serious attitude, suggesting a true detachment from the old, unhinged persona people knew and loved so much. He remained visibly focused and into the performance, not interacting very much with the crowd in turn. Interestingly enough, alongside this, Joji sang several songs in a different pitch compared to their studio versions, notably forgoing the signature falsetto of ‘Ew’. Many songs experienced some form of change: ‘Pretty Boy’ was accompanied by an electric guitar, and ‘SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK’ experienced a decrease in pitch for its first half. Ultimately, the crowd appeared to love the changes displayed regardless, hanging onto every word until the very last.