Justin Timberlake Forget Tomorrow Tour Review: The Good, The Bad, The Disappointing
I’ve officially (kinda) entered my “Get Out of the House” Era. I’m honestly trying to get out more and do more things that don’t involve sitting in bed or on the couch all day. Today is not the best example but, in my defense, it is storming outside so sitting in bed and watching LOST all day is the most ideal thing possible.
Back on June 14th, I had the opportunity to see Justin Timberlake in concert for his Forget Tomorrow World Tour. I was given the tickets by someone who had won them but couldn’t go to the show. I figured “why not,” NSync had been my first ever concert back in the day so seeing Justin Timberlake seemed like a fun, nostalgic thing to do.
After wrapping up work on Friday, my friend Victoria and I headed out to Tampa for some fun and (mis)adventures. We had decided to spend the entire weekend in Tampa and hit Busch Gardens on Saturday after the show since Victoria has been begging me to go forever. If I’m going to trek to Tampa, I’m gonna make it worth it, damnit! Plus I wanted an idea where the cruise ports were since my next few cruises will be out of Tampa (get your act together Port Canaveral, why are your cruises so expensive?).
We checked into our hotel and went about getting ready for the show. We were both concert ready and looking amazing… you’ll have to take my word for it because, in true Josh fashion, I took zero photos. We were ready to hit the town when mother nature had other plans and dumped a damn monsoon onto the city. Our plan to walk to the arena was temporarily halted.
Plan B? Hotel bar.
We cozied up to some drinks and, as luck would have it, made fast friends with two women who were also heading to the concert. It was a lucky find because I was freaking out because I couldn’t find any information about whether Justin had an opening act or not. One of our new friends told us that he normally has a DJ playing before the show. A random guy overheard us and said that his sister saw the show in Atlanta and that the DJ played for about an hour which meant that we had time to wait out the storm (drink).
The rain came to a stop and our ragtag little group began to make our way to the arena for a night of insanity. The crowd was a fascinating mix- much more diverse than I had anticipated. I had expected to see a sea of millennials, but there were plenty of younger folks and some older. Who knew JT had such a wide appeal, especially since everyone I told I was going to the concert had the same reaction- He’s still doing stuff?
Because of the downpour and the knowledge that we had some time, we didn’t get into the arena until about 7:45. We parted ways with our new friends and set about finding our seats. Once we had our bearings we did the only thing that seemed logical- find the bar. After dropping an OBSCENE amount of money on our drinks, we found our seats.
8:30 came and went and the DJ was still playing. Okay. No problem. BACK TO THE BAR TO SPEND MORE MONEY!
Then 9:00 came and went. Still with the DJ.
By 9:30, I was starting to lose hope that we were ever going to get a concert. Just as I was starting to wonder if we had all been tricked into a very elaborate timeshare presentation, Justin decided to grace us with his presence.
The presentation of the entire concert was a massive letdown. From our seats, we could barely see anything at all. Yes, we could see the stage and see that things were happening on the stage but that was about it. The giant screens that made up the back wall of the stage only showed pre-arranged visuals instead of a live feed of the stage. For all I know, there could have been three raccoons in a trench coat down there performing.
It honestly felt like Justin was just going through the motions, following a script rather than being present in the moment and engaging with the audience aside from the typical “hey Tampa, how are we doing tonight?” Not great Justin! It’s past my bedtime and it really doesn’t feel like you want to be here.
The energy from the stage was completely off, and it seemed like the magic just wasn’t there. I found myself longing for the spontaneity and fun that make live shows so special. Even Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour for being the behemoth that it is, still has so much more heart. AND people are constantly proclaiming there isn’t a bad seat in the house for her shows… because they use the damn screens.
I will, however, give credit where credit is due: the production design was pretty cool. There was this rather impressive monolith-looking box (I’m assuming it was on hiatus from randomly showing up in deserts) that floated all over the place during the show.
And in a grand finale, it rose up with what I assume was Justin flying on top of it (still could have been raccoons). It was pretty cool to see, even if the overall show left so much to be desired.
And now, with hindsight, the lack of a quality performance makes more sense. Just a couple of days later, Justin was arrested for DWI and was found to have a multitude of other substances in his system. I honestly feel bad for the people who actually paid for their tickets. Granted, they probably had a better view, but the show was seriously lacking in heart. I’m assuming sales weren’t that great because it seemed like everyone around us had received free tickets.
Early reviews of the concert seem to paint the show in a positive light, so it’s hard to believe we were watching the same performance. It just goes to show that sometimes, what’s happening behind the scenes can impact the magic on stage.
In the end, I’d give the concert a 3 out of 10. Truly disappointing for an artist of Justin Timberlake’s caliber. But hey, not every adventure can be a home run. Despite the letdown, I’m glad I went. I got to spend a fantastic evening with Victoria, met some new friends, and had a weekend full of laughs and stories to tell.
