JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022. Onome Uyovbievbo/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — JoJo just might be one of the more under-appreciated vocalists around. Perhaps her Grammy win in 2020 (with PJ Morton) for Best R&B song has gotten more people to notice, but even that recording undersells just how powerfully the artist, whose name is Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque, can belt it.

JoJo emerged from exile (following a prolonged battle with an old label) a few years ago with a ton of songs that began to change her image from young pop star to soulful crooner. A couple of albums later, that transition seems to be fully complete. Playing the Bay Area for the first time since she released her fourth album, 2020’s Good to Know, she once again showed off those powerful pipes of hers at the Warfield.

She and her band took the stage to two of the newer tracks, “What U Need” and “Man.” The first few seconds seemed a bit awkward, as crew members were still pulling tarps off on-stage instruments as JoJo, a backup singer and one of her keyboardists began the song, but there was a quick recovery. Both songs were bangers. On the opening tune, JoJo even did some rapping alongside a hip-hop beat during an otherwise poppy production. At the tail end of the latter song, she broke out a Snow-White-esque falsetto.

JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

Most of the set was composed of powerful ballads that shined the brightest spotlight right on the star and her voice. On “Spiral SZN,” she jumped up and down with her fist raised, then belted to the bass-heavy bop. More in this category included “Mad Love,” “Boy Without a Heart” (which also featured some otherworldly synths and ended in a diva-like show of power), “Feel Alright,” “Comeback” and “Say Love.”

Those songs were separated by more unique offerings like “High Heels,” more of a rocking number; R&B tune “Worst (I Assume),” with funky keys; the skittering “Dissolve,” which offered both mood and tempo changes; and the night’s lone soft piano ballad, “Music,” which came in the encore and had JoJo singing while sitting on a stool.

JoJo’s backup singer had several well-deserved moments to show off her abilities, on “Dissolve,” “Anxiety (Burlinda’s Theme)” and on JoJo’s first hit, “Leave (Get Out).”

“Can I take it back to the very beginning?” JoJo asked before the band kickstarted the song in the encore.

Fans went wild for a cover of SWV’s “Weak”—a song released before many in the audience were born—as well as new tune “Gold” and a cover of Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain.”

JoJo introduced “Say So” as a bright spot in a year 2020 that quickly fell apart. Besides that song, other later half highlights included “Pedialyte,” which had a raging instrumental chorus. It would have been nice to see the musicians on stage a bit better here, but they remained mostly as silhouettes.

She stopped the next song, “Think About You,” for several minutes after a female concertgoer toward the front collapsed—it was very hot and stuffy inside the Warfield; an issue that could have easily been remedied had someone cracked open one of the stage doors to the street. JoJo handed the woman a water bottle and then chatted either with her or her friends while EMTs and venue security helped the woman out.

“I’ve even dehydrated before. I’ve passed out before,” JoJo said, after acknowledging that she wasn’t sure what to do besides stand around. Some Pedialyte would have helped!

Afterward, she restarted “Think About You” before moving straight to the encore, which also included hit “Too Little Too Late” and a couple more songs.

QUIN performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

East-Bay-born R&B artist QUIN (Bianca Quiñones) opened the show to a crowd that included numerous relatives. Impressively backed by percussionist Madame Gandhi on the congas and a DJ, she played a nuanced set of slinky and seductive bass-laden electronic soul. In fact, when I asked my phone to identify the first song, it suggested Prince’s “Love 2 the 9’s,” and that didn’t seem too far off.

“This is where it all started for me, specifically, West Oakland,” Quiñones said early in the set. “This is my home. This is where I grew up. If it wasn’t for West Oakland, this music would not exist.”

The performance included the downtempo “BB” (one of her nicknames), “STICKY SITUATION” and “Mushroom Chocolate”—the latter with her boyfriend 6LACK delivering the rapped parts.

“These are love songs I write to myself for myself,” she said.

Quiñones saved the best for last. She invited her sister, artist Infiniti, to recite the poem intro to “Lucid,” which was punctuated with QUIN’s jazzy singing and Madame Gandhi’s percussion, before performing “Heal the World,” backed only by the percussionist before transitioning to a richer, bass-heavy version of the song.

JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

JoJo performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

QUIN performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

QUIN performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

QUIN performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

Madame Gandhi and 6lack perform with QUIN at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 1, 2022.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Onome Uyovbievbo at Twitter.com/byonome and Instagram.com/by.onome.