Justin Timberlake - Forget Tomorrow World Tour
Date: June 29, 2024
Location: Boston, MA
After a long hiatus, Justin Timberlake finally returned to the concert tour stage, embarking on his Forget Tomorrow World Tour. The tour follows the release of his latest album, Everything I Thought I Was. The Forget Tomorrow World Tour made a stop in Boston for two sold out nights.
The 2024 Tour is actually my first Justin Timberlake solo concert. The last time I saw Justin live was the No Strings Attached tour in 2000. I know. A long time ago!
And I will say Justin delivered a high scale two-hour action packed production!
The Venue
The concert took place at Boston’s famous TD Garden. Previously, I had gone to the TD Garden for the BSB DNA tour and the Package Tour with NKOTB, 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men.
My friend and I managed to score tickets at the Loge 15 side area, above the stage. Normally, I say closer is better. However, Justin Timberlake Floor and VIP seats were out of my budget! They were going as high as $1000 to $2000! Justin is Beyonce/Taylor Swift level.
My friend and I just wanted to enjoy the show. So we decided to choose higher level seats that were within our budget. We still had a great view of the stage. We couldn’t see the main screen nor the B stage. But we still could see Justin on the main stage.
Personally, I was glad we were not on the floor. We didn’t have to be overwhelmed with the crowd and stand the whole time. We could sit down when we were tired. Though Justin did keep me standing and dancing all night!
Even though the show was scheduled at 7:30 pm, we knew Justin does not come on till 9 pm. My friend and I decided to take our time. We enjoyed dinner and drinks at Morimoto’s Momosan at TD Garden before heading over to the concert venue.
Before Justin comes on, DJ Hype rallied and energized the crowd. He definitely knew his audience by playing several boyband songs during his set.
The Show
At 9 pm, the lights go down and the stage lights up with Justin’s song “Memphis” starts playing. The crowd starts screaming.
Songs From Everything I Thought I Knew
Justin pops up on stage and kicks off the show appropriately with “No Angels”. The upbeat song got the crowd energized and dancing. His setlist consisted mainly of songs from his latest album, “Everything I Thought I Knew”. These songs included “Technicolor”, “Drown”, “Let the Groove Get In”, “Selfish”, “Flame” and “Play My Favorite Drug”.
I really enjoyed his performance of “Imagination”. The song is just fun and upbeat that gives positive vibes. Definitely got the crowd dancing. The choreography between Justin, the Tennessee Kids and the dancers was intricate and well-synchronized.
Another highlight was “Sanctified’. The song is honestly a banger when Justin sings it live. He just stands by the microphone and sings his heart out with the band playing. I did wish Justin had included “Liar’ and “Conditions” which are my favorite songs on the album.
Justin elevated the show’s production by incorporating lighting and visuals with each song. For example, during the performance of “Drown”, images of waves and water moved in the background.
Justin also made sure he reached as many people as possible by utilizing the entire stage and floor. When he’s on the main stage, he would move around and face audience members like me who are sitting in the side Loge seats. TD Garden placed a B Stage/VIP area between the back of the floor seats and back loge seats. In the middle of the concert, Justin (with his security and Tennessee Kids) makes his way through the crowd to the B Stage. He takes time to say hi to fans, take some selfies as he walks/dances to the second stage.
On the B Stage, Justin and the Tennessee Kids perform an acoustic-like set. He performed “Say Something” , “Selfish” and “Flame”.
Justin Brings Nostalgia Back
While I did enjoy performances of his latest album’s songs, I enjoyed more of the performances of his greatest hits. These performances included “Senorita” where he played the keyboard and “Love Stoned/I think She Knows”, “Rock Your Body”, “My Love” and “Like I Love You”. In my opinion, Justin delivered better performances of these songs because of the crowd’s familiarity and love of the hits. Justin got the fans energized to sing along. I may also be biased towards those songs having never heard them sung live. But, the choreography for “LIke I Love You” was on point.
Justin further increased the level of nostalgia when he performed “Can’t Stop The Feeling” from the Trolls soundtrack. The crowd just gets excited and Justin just feeds off their positive vibes.
My other favorite performance was definitely Justin’s megahit, “Cry Me A River”. Though “Cry Me A River” is a sad song, the live version played like a crowd anthem. Justin encouraged the audience to sing along with him. During the song, he managed to balance the choreography with the dancers while interacting with the crowd.
One prominent feature of the show is a large rectangular moving Block dubbed by the fans, “Blocky Timberlake”. Blocky served as an extension of Justin. As Justin moves about the stage, Blocky flies above him and projects various images on its screen. Mainly Justin's full body dancing or face singing. Blocky was prominently featured during Justin’s performance of “Sexy Back”. As Justin danced around the stage, Blocky projects a large version of Justin’s face repeating the chorus.
Justin closed the show with a big encore performance of his megahit, “Mirrors”. And he went out with a bang! Attached to a harness, Justin stands on Blocky and they float around TD Garden. He belts out the song as he looks out and waves to the crowd of screaming fans. The audience goes wild! It was definitely the first time I’ve seen an artist perform at that height. It was the perfect ending to the show.
The Verdict
Justin clearly proved himself as a triple threat. Justin is not only a great singer, but he's also a great dancer. He can still sing the high falsetto voice and can carry throughout the stadium. Moreover, he masterfully stretched his musical abilities with his guitar and piano playing.
Moreover, he is definitely a perfectionist. Justin is a performer and an artist who sticks to a specific script. Justin has certain expectations on how he wants the show to be delivered. The focus of performance delivery was clearly obvious as he and the dancers mainly wore the same outfits the entire show, a blackish gray loose suit and sneakers.
Overall, I enjoyed the concert and had a fun time. Justin knows how to put on a show and keep the fans entertained.
