The 31-show, 14-city tour only included six North American stops. With the others scheduled for major metros such as New York and LA, the addition of modest San Antonio over glitzier Texas cities came as a surprise. It was SA’s time to shine Wednesday, and holy shit, did we show up.
The tour began selling merchandise the morning before the show and opened again at 10 a.m. the day of. Fans lined up for hours, even sheltering in place as a rainstorm hit before doors opened. When the downpour stopped, thousands lined up to get past security. Even after J-Hope took the stage, a couple of hundred people still waited to be let in.
The show was sectioned into five acts, each representing periods of J-Hope’s multifaceted career as a solo artist and his time in BTS, perhaps the biggest boy band in the modern era. Impressive visuals, pyrotechnics and confetti accompanied each act, and a trio of giant screens towered over the crowd, nearly reaching the rafters of the Frost Bank Center. J-Hope performed with a live band and a troupe of perfectly choreographed dancers, the latter of whom even got a dedicated showcase for their skills. Thousands of fans with drummed along to each song with glowing light sticks, the blur of colors mesmerizing. Seventeen platforms onstage raised or lowered for specific songs — truly cutting edge stuff.
J-Hope’s first two acts were dedicated to solo material, including Jack in the Box and last year’s Hope on the Street Vol. 1 and touched on songs such as “Arson,” “MORE” and “lock/unlock.”
Meanwhile, Acts 3 and 4 focused on his time in BTS, his collaborations with other artists and new material. A medley of the BTS songs “MIC DROP,” “Silver Spoon” and “Dis-Ease” left fans screaming louder than the music coming from the sound system. Indeed, the crowd’s roar measured 121db on a portable meter, and the sound engineers even covered their ears. Fans also showed their enthusiasm for J-Hope’s collaborations with Becky G and Miguel along with his new single “MONA LISA.”
The fifth and final act was the encore. “You really know how to have a good time,” J-Hope told the crowd in Korean as a translator interpreted. “I think i’m going to have to come back again.” He made the announcement while wearing a jersey embroidered with “San Antonio 25.”
During the show, the video screens showed images representing cities on the Hope on the Stage tour. The Brooklyn Bridge showed up, along with a Chicago White Sox hat and briefcases Labeled “Mexico City” and “Seoul.” One glaring omission stood out: there were no visuals of the Alamo City.
Hopefully, the Frost Bank Center crowd showed J-Hope’s tour producers that Military City USA has a massive BTS army willing to stand in the rain for hours to have a chance to sing along. Like bigger and more glamorous cities, we also know how to pack an arena.
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This article appears in Mar 19 – Apr 1, 2025.