With 22 years of experience, no matter how many times you’ve seen him live in concert, JJ Lin never ceases to impress and deliver the best of the best, and his latest tour is outstanding.
Returning to Melbourne with his “JJ20” FINAL LAP World Tour to celebrate his career accomplishments as part of his 20th anniversary, to my surprise, despite retaining the ‘JJ20 World Tour’ name, the entire setlist, stage production and costuming was completely new. Once again revisiting Rod Laver Arena to a sold-out show in Melbourne on Friday April 11th, excited and eager fans took to their seats to be welcomed by an upgraded JJ20 lightstick. Some (including myself) even took the opportunity to snap some photos with the stage and lightstick before the house lights dimmed.
Cleverly separated into eight unique segments; JJ Lin took to the stage for the first part of the show, titled “The Timekeeper”. I realised a little easter egg, ‘A Thousand Years Later (一千年以後)’ was the last song at JJ20 two years ago, and this song was brilliantly used to start off Final Lap, creating a full circle moment. I was blown away by the visual effects and lasers shown in ‘Genesis (新地球)’, ‘No. 89757 (編號89757)’ and ‘Wonderland’ as the show embarked on its journey.
JJ Lin warmly greeted all fans present at the Melbourne concert, knowing that many had flown from overseas and interstate to make it, with many growing up listening to his music. JJ explained that the day before the Melbourne concert, the 10th of April, was his 22nd anniversary in the music industry and he couldn’t help but feel very emotional during this special time while hoping that he’d be able to bring back the nostalgic memories and feelings for everyone through ‘Freeze (凍結)’, a song from his debut album, Music Voyager.
My favourite outfit of the night was during “The Romantic” chapter of the show, a tailored blue suit with an added skirt component. A loud singalong to ‘Always Online’ ensued before JJ Lin shared that he would always be supporting everyone through his music online. ‘The Key (關鍵詞)’ was a song I’ve loved hearing him perform, so the moment that Melbourne patrons chanted JJ Lin’s name as part of the song, it’s always brought me joy at past concerts, and it did again at this one.
“The Boy” reflected JJ Lin’s love and journey in music and playing the guitar. With an acoustic guitar in hand, JJ Lin serenaded the Melbourne audience with ‘Dimples (小酒窩)’, ‘A Song for You Till the End of Time (彈唱)’, ‘Self Portrait (自畫像)’ and ‘Whenever (當你)’.
Heart wrenchingly beautiful, “The Broken” segment had some of my all-time favorite JJ Lin songs in it. Laced with emotion, ‘53 Dawns (黑夜問白天)’ and ‘Romantic Mystery (故事細膩)’ touched my heart, while the string quartet that he had on stage with his band helped to enhance and compliment these already gorgeous songs. As if on cue, LED light boards sprang into the air from the Rod Laver Arena stands the very second that ‘Those Were The Days (那些你很冒險的夢)’ began to play. JJ Lin dotingly shouted out the different cities he read on these signs as he sang through the song and happily thanked fans for traveling from afar to see him live.
The section I highly anticipated for JJ Lin to perform was “The Darkness”. JJ Lin ascended into the air with ‘The Killa (殺手)’ and teleported you out of this world with its visual effects. He looked like he was levitating in space! Introducing JFJ Production’s new artist, Jasmine Sokko was brought on stage for songs ‘Cyber Ritual’ and ‘Burnout Dynasty’. After, JJ strongly belted out high notes with his English track ‘Not Tonight’.
Dressed in a red trench coat for “The Fighter” segment, JJ Lin exuded full energy for songs ‘Unchained (無懼)’ and ‘Sanctuary (聖所)’, also gesturing to the Melbourne audience to wave their lightsticks eagerly, which they did, to the beat. A fan favourite, ‘Tales of the Red Cliff (醉赤壁)’ had prompted another karaoke session which had the Melbourne audience sounding beautifully with our voices combined, before leading into singing for his iconic track ‘Cao Cao (曹操)’.
Classic after classic, “The Healer” section had rolled out JJ Lin’s piano onto the catwalk part of the large stage, captivating hearts with songs ‘Remember (記得)’ and ‘She Says (她說)’. JJ had opened the floor to song requests and a sea of signs emerged. Seemingly struggling to pick a song with a record number of signs coming from all directions, and after some contemplation, JJ selected ‘Truth 原來’, ‘Darwin (達爾文)’ and ‘Forget (忘記)’. Before he seamlessly moved to one of my favourite songs ‘If Only… (可惜沒如果)’. I loved that this part of the show had been named “The Healer” as the songs that were chosen felt healing and have accompanied many of us during different times and sometimes difficult parts our lives. This was followed by ‘Back To Back (背對背擁抱)’ and ‘Practice Love (修煉愛情)’.
The mood changed when JJ Lin returned on stage with ‘You N Me (因你而在)’, this time bringing his back-up singers with him to help energetically throwing various merch to fans. Party mode was enabled as JJ had happily danced and sang to ‘7300+ Days (7千3百多天)’ and ‘High Fashion (不潮不用花錢)’. Of course, no JJ Lin concert is complete without the immensely popular song, ‘River South (江南)’.
The end of the night arrived far too quickly, despite Final Lap being a 3-hour show, and JJ Lin showcased his final segment of the night, titled “The Turn of a Page”. A massive singalong to the iconic ‘Twilight (不為誰而作的歌)’ filled the air as the screens displayed music notes and snippets of his concert preparation and journey. ‘Above The Fray (光陰副本)’ really warmed my heart, as clips with fans surfaced; before ending with a message of “I really love us” displayed on the big screen. Before I knew it, we were at his last song of the concert, ‘No Turning Back (交換餘生)’.
Through 3 hours of non-stop hits, a bigger band with a string quartet, fresh and captivating visuals, various outfit changes with a brand-new wardrobe, and a revamped setlist, JJ Lin treated his Melbourne audience with everything he had. The stage production especially was spectacular and had me engrossed in every segment. The Final Lap Melbourne concert was an incredible show for fans of all generations and was both visually stunning and musically heartwarming. Despite this being my fourth time attending a JJ Lin concert tour, JJ Lin thoroughly impressed everyone with the detail, thought and execution into Final Lap, making it feel like it a brand-new experience.
JJ Lin’s latest tour “JJ20” FINAL LAP World Tour is super entertaining, mesmerisingly impressive and a wonderful celebration of his career thus far. I always look forward to every JJ Lin concert I can attend whenever he comes to Australia and consistently get a sense of love, healing and escapism through his music. I hope that his “see you next time” statement will come into fruition sooner than later. Until then, I am deeply thankful to have been a part of his 20th anniversary celebrations and want to congratulate JJ Lin for 22 glorious years in the industry. His imprint in the Mandopop world is prominent, strong and timeless.
JJ Lin performed in Melbourne, Australia at Rod Laver Arena on Friday April 11th as part of his “JJ20” FINAL LAP World Tour, proudly presented by JFJ Productions, UnUsUaL Entertainment, Chinatown Cinema Corporation, and TEG Live.
For more information visit:
https://www.jfjproductions.com
https://www.unusual.com.sg/past-events/concerts/jj-lin-jj20-final-lap-world-tour-melbourne
Chinatown Cinema JJ Lin Tour Link
https://teglive.com.au/live_tour/jjlin_2025
https://www.instagram.com/jjlin
Photography by JFJ Productions/UnUsUaL Entertainment.
