J. Cole is currently on his 5th world tour and the first he’s done in 9 (NINE) years. He did 5 shows in the NYC area, here’s my honest review of the show I attended on 8/5/2026 at UBS Arena.

Why I tried it:

I started listening to J. Cole back in college (2012-2016), so I’ve been a big fan of his for over 10 years. 2014 Forest Hills Drive is one of my no-skip albums and all of his projects show up on almost every playlist I create for myself. My cousin told me that he was going to the concert at Madison Square Garden (MSG), so I decided to buy myself a ticket to see him later in the week and I went to the 8/5 show at UBS Arena in Elmont, NY.

I decided to go to the Elmont show because J. Cole attended St. John’s University way back in the day, and UBS Arena is close to where he used to live. He also talks about Queens, NY, feeling like a second home (second only to his actual hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina). Because of this, I thought seeing him at this particular stop might feel a little more special; this is something he talked about a lot during the concert too.

What I loved:

Transportation to and from the arena was seamless. I took the LIRR, which drops you off at the Elmont–UBS Arena station. Instead of conductors checking tickets on the train, they scanned tickets as we were leaving the station. Your LIRR ticket needed to be scanned before you could board the shuttle to the arena, I think this was absolutely genius! The shuttle ride to the arena took less than 5 minutes. The same was true on the way back — after getting off the shuttle, tickets were scanned before you could get to the train platform.

The setlist was 10/10. He introduced nearly every song he performed and explained why he created it and how it ties into his life story. To be honest, even though it was in an arena that seats nearly 20,000 people — it still felt like an intimate concert because of how he took time between songs to engage the crowd and talk about his music. He even explained his choice of stage setup. Behind him throughout the show stood a replica of the tallest building in his hometown of Fayetteville. He explained that it was there so he could always have a piece of home with him as he traveled on this world tour. There was also a car on stage; I’m not sure of the significance or the make/model. There were 4 large screens at different angles so that no matter where you sit in the arena, you’re able to see Cole clearly. 

He was on stage for 2 straight hours performing songs from his newest album The Fall Off and reaching back into the archives to perform songs throughout every era of his career. One of my favorite Cole songs is No Role Modelz; he played it later in the concert, and the crowd went wild (as expected). I have to say, it was one of the best concerts I’ve been to in a really long time and I’m so glad that I took the plunge and bought my ticket.

The other reason I went was because the tickets were relatively cheap; I paid $100 for my ticket on the GameTime app. My seat was in one of the 200 sections that faced the stage head-on (I mean take a look at my pics!!). For me, to see a major artist for that price in the NYC area in such a large arena is almost unheard of — I had seen Dua Lipa at MSG back in September 2025 (I can do another mini review on that, spoiler alert: I would see her again and again and again) and those tickets cost us over $300 per person.

He did have an opener who went on stage around 8pm; I’m not sure who it was since I was waiting in the merch line. And he finally hit the stage at around 9pm.

What I didn’t love:

J. Cole was amazing and I have no notes — I think most of my issues/frustrations were with the staffing by UBS Arena and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

First: the merch lines. I think this is a problem at nearly every concert, but it felt so much worse here. I waited in line for a little over an hour. I think there was an element of people not knowing what they wanted which is inevitable. The real issue is that the venue staff didn’t have the shirts sorted; I purchased 2 shirts and my attendant was digging through the box to find my correct size. I think a little bit more planning on their end and pre-sorting the shirts would have made the merch line a little smoother. 

On the way back, the train platform heading out east to Long Island was absolutely insane. There were so many people and it didn’t feel like there were enough MTA police officers or other authority around to keep people in check. Crowd safety is a big thing for me and there were people who would just stand in clusters in the middle of the already narrow platform making it incredibly difficult for people to pass. This poses a danger because someone could easily fall onto the tracks which could be fatal. I think at future concerts, more police or staff should be placed at this station to just make people a bit more orderly for safety purposes. 

Who I think it’s for:

This concert is for anyone who loves J. Cole. I think he played at least 1 song from each of his albums and obviously more from his most recent album, ‘The Fall Off.’ During the concert J. Cole himself even said that this concert is for anyone who loves at least one of his songs (I’d never before heard an artist say that!).

The verdict:

Rating: 5/5 ★★★★★

Bottom line: If you’ve been thinking about going to a J. Cole concert, you will not regret going to see him on this tour. Even if you don’t want to wait in the merch lines, everyone at my show was given a microfiber towel to commemorate the tour — so you have a memento built into the cost of your ticket.

If you’ve seen J. Cole live, I need to know: what song was the best part of the show for you? And should I do that Dua Lipa concert review next? 👀 Let me know below!

With love,

Ash ♡