The “Blinks” unofficially passed their bi-ping-bong light sticks to the “Rubies” on Sunday night (March 22) at the Complex Live music festival at Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo.
Closing out two days of concerts surrounding the third annual ComplexCon Hong Kong fashion and pop-culture exhibition and marketplace, K-pop superstar Jennie united both sides of her fandom under one roof.
The Blackpink die-hards showed up alongside the K-pop it-girl devotees who want to dress like, talk like and swagger like the artist’s “Jennie Ruby Jane” persona created for her 2025 debut solo album, Ruby.
It was clear the sold-out crowd was still hungry for every facet of Jennie, even though just two months earlier, Blackpink’s Deadline Tour came to an end a short distance away at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Stadium.
Hitting the stage at exactly 9:45 p.m. and wrapping by 10:15 p.m., the singer, dancer, actor, model and cultural force performed a tight 10-song, 30-minute set that drew heavily from Ruby. In a big night of firsts,
Jennie performed solo in China for the first time and became the first female headliner for Complex Live. Treading new ground — and edgier than many of her female K-pop counterparts, she frequently swears — Jennie’s choreography-driven R&B style weaves in hip-hop and club influences.
On this night, fans got what they wanted: a performance that felt like equal parts pulsating music video and runway show. Opening with “Mantra” and surrounded by a dozen male and female dancers, Jennie ignited a party onstage as she effortlessly moved through the slow-burn choreography that has become her signature — sharp, powerful hip-hop movements rounded out with fluid, sensual poses. Next came “Love Hangover,” followed by the J.Lo-esque party anthem “With the IE (Way Up),” where she sprinted down the stage, every move mirrored by her pack.
Jennie is also not afraid to stand alone in the spotlight, which she did during “Start a War.” In “Seoul City,” she wore a mini veil in tribute to the massive one she wore at the 2025 Melon Music Awards, inscribed with the Korean alphabet. Then the high-energy “ExtraL” and a solo “Handlebars” led into the live debut and theatrical apex of the night with “Dracula.”
Emerging in a dramatic black coat that landed somewhere between cape and couture, Jennie leaned fully into gothic fantasy. The energy spiked again with “Damn Right,” where her catwalk-like prowl turned every scene into a runway moment. She closed with the anthemic “Like Jennie,” popping on her Gentle Monster shades.
Of their biggest get yet, Bonnie Chan Woo, CEO of Complex China, says, “Jennie’s live stages are always so captivating, and it’s clear how much creativity and dedication she brings to every performance. For ComplexCon Hong Kong, she went the extra mile by incorporating new, never-before-seen elements into her choreography and staging. Her presence in Hong Kong, even a year after her solo album release, meant so much.”
In 2024, ComplexCon arrived in Hong Kong as an offshoot of the U.S. event, which has moved between Long Beach, Las Vegas and Chicago over the past decade. While numbers are not yet in for 2026, the event is expected to break its previous sales and attendance records in part thanks to Jennie and this year’s artistic director, Labubu creator, and Hong Kong-born Belgian artist and illustrator Kasing Lung, who drew thousands to the Expo, waiting in line for hours for limited-edition Monsters merch.
Special items from the Virgil Abloh Archive — a collection of over 20,000 objects spanning Abloh’s creative practice — also drew major interest from the hypebeast community. Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF took over the Pigeons & Planes Stage, creating a collision of futuristic sound and viral culture.
Over three years, the festival’s concert series has brought major acts to China for the first time, including 21 Savage and Quavo. Last year, it made headlines worldwide as the stage for NewJeans’ final show, as the group was sued and disbanded by its record label, ADOR.
Complex Live 2026 also featured rapper Yeat on Saturday, marking his China debut, along with Jay Park and ALLDAYPROJECT.
Jennie performs at the Governors Ball on June 7.
