From LA With Heart: Celebrate Valentine’s Day with PSYCHIC FEVER's Memorable Tour Closing!
By. Aliyah Hinckley
And ‘Just Like Dat’ PSYCHIC FEVER from EXILE TRIBE wrapped up the last stop of their first-ever U.S. tour on Valentine’s Day at the Saban Theater in Los Angeles, California. The anticipation was high, with camera crews and ForEVER (their fandom) in attendance, the seats were filled to the back.
The seven-member Japanese boy group consisting of TSURUJI, RYOGA NAKANISHI, REN WATANABE, JIMMY, KOKORO KOHATSU, RYUSHIN HANDA, and WEESA are a part of the artist collective, EXILE TRIBE, under the company LDH JAPAN. The group has released tracks that blend elements of J-pop, hip-hop, R&B, and EDM. The boys had Konnect’d Entertainment, a woman-, Latinx-, and Black-owned company, by their side on this tour, the same team that successfully organized the previous first solo tour for BM and Seo In Guk’s fan meetings in the U.S. The company added another successful leg of a tour, connecting the Japanese group with their fans in the U.S.
Knowing this wasn’t the group’s first time in LA–since they had come here during the summer to perform on the Wish USA Bus in Hollywood–this Valentine’s Day performance was bound to be unforgettable.
On the day celebrating love, the group was definitely giving ForEVER many Valentine treats as a special guest Japanese rapper JP THE WAVY made a surprise appearance performing “Just Like Dat”--the group's most-played song on Spotify which garnered much attention when it circulated on social media. The crowd could be heard loudly responding to the members on stage with the lyrics “do just like that” during the post-chorus part. All around, fans were seen dressed up, especially in cowboy hats, paying homage to TSURUJI's classic style of wearing a cowboy hat. The fans were also rocking green letterman jackets, similar to the ones the members wore in the music video of “Just Like Dat.”
That wasn’t the only treat—right before 'Paradise' was performed, Kokoro walked onto the stage, bathed in red lights. As he made his entrance, three spotlights from different angles suddenly shone on him, illuminating him in his red suit–as seen in the music video–with a bouquet of red roses in his hands. After spinning around with grace, carrying himself smoothly on stage, he was met with cheers and threw the roses into the crowd for a lucky fan. When the group then performed “Paradise” it marked the first outfit change of the night. Dressed in tuxedos from their music video, the members looked handsome as they performed under the golden and red lighting.
When the group performed their newest single, “What’s Happenin’,” the crowd was in full force, singing along to every lyric. The boys delivered high-energy performances, showcasing not only their vocals and rap talents but also their impressive dance skills. During the dance break of “TALK TO ME NICE,” RYUSHIN and KOKORO took center stage with KOKORO stealing the spotlight with a handstand back flip. Later, the group split into different units performing songs like “SH♡TGUN,” in which JIMMY and WEESA were featured on with PERO PERO CANDY. REN joined both of them for “Highlights.” Bringing a hip-hop vibe, “Psyfe Cypher” followed, with RYUSHIN, TSURUJI, RYOGA, and JIMMY effortlessly rapping their verses.
The encore highlighted individual talents, with Ren stepping out onto the stage to Beatbox dynamic rhythms while Ryoga gave a fun DJ set. Once again performing “Just Like Dat” but this time wearing their merch, the group broke up into different sides of the stage to interact with fans on each side. As the performance continued, the crowd and members raised their arms and swung bandanas, bringing a fun, energetic vibe to the final song of the night.
Throughout the night, PSYCHIC FEVER engaged with the crowd, keeping the fans excited and involved. During sweet, slower songs like “Bitter Sweet,” both the crowd and the group were seen swaying their hands in the air, left to right. The 'bittersweet' feeling in the song captures the mix of sweetness and struggle that comes with pursuing dreams and love, something many could relate to. The members seemed to be having a blast, laughing and dancing along to 'BEE-PO,' especially when REN took the spotlight in the center, surrounded by his fellow members.
JIMMY encouraged fans to make a promise to keep sharing love, dream, and happiness with friends, family, and everyone around them. That message of LOVE + DREAM + HAPPINESS is an acronym of their company's name and was stitched on the back of the stylish jackets they wore in the beginning portion of the show.
Throughout the night, and especially at the end, the members expressed their gratitude for the tour, meeting fans, and how much joy it brought them. Fun games and a quick hi-bye touch concluded the evening. In one of the games, three lucky fans were brought on stage and faced the crowd so they couldn’t see who was behind them. The goal of the game was to guess who was behind them. At previous tour stops, WEESA had playfully given himself away by saying, “Hi, I’m Weesa,” but the fan at that stop didn't catch on. This time, when RYOGA said, “Hi, I’m WEESA,” the fan mistakenly thought it was actually WEESA, not realizing it was part of the trick bringing laughter from everyone. However, another fan guessed correctly when RYUSHIN, in his sweetest, softest voice, said “nice to meet you,” prompting the crowd to collectively say, 'awww!' by how cute he said it. The fan who guessed right got to take a photo with the group as a reward.
But before the concert ended, JIMMY announced a major milestone for the group: on the day of the LA show, they had officially signed with Warner Music Group. Since their debut in 2022 and the viral success of 'Just Like Dat,' which spread across social media, the group had been bound to make waves internationally. It was only a matter of time, and now, finish the first-ever U.S. tour, signing to Warner Music Group and their ongoing tour in Japan, they continue to expand their reach. The group is set to embark on the PSYCHIC FEVER LIVE TOUR 2025 EVOLVE in Japan. But that’s not all—at the end of the video, 'and more...' flashed on the screen, hinting that more exciting things are in store for ForEVER in the U.S. PSYCHIC FEVER is also set to release a new single under Warner Music Group in June.