Justin Timberlake – The Man of the Woods Tour Review

This last Saturday, April 28, I had the distinct pleasure of attending Justin Timberlake‘s Man of the Woods tour during its LA stop at the Forum in Inglewood. I should preface this now by saying this isn’t a totally unbiased review. I have loved Justin Timberlake for about 20 years (more if you count MMC) and was deeply, deeply obsessed with *NSync during their late 90’s/early 2000’s reign of popdom.  I have attended not only 6 of their concerts, but 3 other solo JT ones as well. That being said, I will be absolutely honest in that I skipped his last tour because I didn’t love his last album (The 20/20 Experience) as much as I had the previous two. So I’m not entirely incapable of writing about him without fangirling.

Hahahaha. Ok, that’s a lie. I fangirled HARDCORE, but I will absolutely present things that I thought could be better. Because I’m balanced like that!

The Good

Right away, upon entering the venue, you can see that the stage is set up to give the fans the best show possible. JT thought of everything: 3 stages spread over the whole floor of the venue. The center stage has a “pit” around it, complete with a full bar and a cordoned off area where VIPs can party and drink throughout the whole concert. Each of the stages connects via walkway (or danceway if we’re being honest) decorated with a faux tree here and there, and gives the whole crowd a chance to get a better view of the man himself. What was even cooler about the setup is that Justin used it to its full potential – he spent considerable time at each stage and worked each one on its own right. The setup was genius, and was a huge part of the reason the show was so awesome.

Of course a lot of the reason the show was awesome was also our “seats.” We had GA passes and got there very early, so got to choose where we stood. I had done some research on Instagram and asked people the best place to stand (since the stage was 3 parts – wasn’t sure where to make camp.) A VERY sweet woman from Utah that I’m now lifetime friends with drew me the best diagram and explained why I should go to the spot we ended up choosing. Check out how awesome this thing is!

Needless to say, choosing a spot based on her diagram helped make this experience even better than it would have been.

The Less Good

Although Timberlake produces for them, the opening act, the Shadowboxers, left me feeling just “meh.” They were a group of talented and attractive men, for sure. However, their most entertaining song was a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Do You Remember”. If the band was an emoji, they’d be the shrugging emoji. 🤷

The only other real thing that I could find fault with during the show was that JT didn’t speak to the crowd very much between songs. Don’t get me wrong – I realize he is the consummate performer. But it would have been nice to hear some backstory to the album, the songs, anything. He got the crowd hyped but left us wondering why and how his vibe changed so drastically from one album to another, from R&B and funk to folksy Man of the Woods. We love it, we love him. Would’a just loved to have had an intimate moment where we learned something about him, too.

The Friggin’ Awesome

This show was awesome on many levels. The first of these is that he did all.the.jams. Justin could have rightfully made this a Man of the Woods heavy show. And he certainly put it on display, singing 7 of the 16 songs on the album. However he also sang 15 others and included 4 covers. He sang all the songs everyone wants to hear, from “Like I Love You” and “Cry Me a River” to “My Love” and “Sexy Back.” It was Justin at his best. Singing, dancing, and generally performing the sh*t out of his biggest hits. You couldn’t catch your breath before the next song began and you were dancing and singing your heart out again.

And then…during “Higher Higher”, I had a pretttttty incredible moment with Mr. JT himself.  As he danced from the center stage to our spot by the third stage, I saw him getting closer and closer again (he had danced our way previously.) Then all of a sudden, he danced to a stop, stooped down, locked eyes with me, and held his hand out to me. We briefly grasped hands, I proceeded to freak out, and he got up with a laugh at my reaction. I was in TOTAL SHOCK. Afterward, I just screamed. I screamed like a 12 year old girl being murdered in the forest. I’m talking blood curdling, cray-cray screams. 😂 But as I mentioned previously, I have adored this guy for 20+ years. To all of a sudden come face to face with him was both insanely awesome and just truly mind-boggling. It has been 4 days and I still don’t think it has set in.

Check out the video below to see it happen and hear my murder screams:

Besides my “moment” with JT, the best part of the show was a little mini-show he did on the third stage around a campfire. This part was not only cool because it was straight out of a theme for “Man of the Woods”, complete with logs to sit on, flanneled men, and a sing-along by a real fire, but was super intimate and gave us a better picture of the true talent of JT’s back up (the Tennessee kids as they are known.) It also took place right by where we standing which made it even better for obvious reasons, but that was simply a happy coincidence. It was a really special part of the concert experience, bringing us into his campfire huddle.

When it was all said and done, Justin had performed 27 songs flawlessly, much to the joy of the sold out crowd. I have been to many many concerts in my 32 years, and this one was my favorite. YES, admittedly, that is partially because of hand grab and the view, but it was also just so well done, so well performed. He gave every song and dance his all, and as the viewer, you could absolutely feel that.

So, what are you waiting for!? Go grab JT tickets! You won’t regret it. I certainly didn’t!