Being Basic at the Djo Concert on a Saturday Evening

There was a lot going on downtown St. Paul this evening, with a Minnesota Wild playoff game and prom for some of the surrounding high schools. I quickly had to rush from photographing a wedding and hope to find some parking that didn’t cost an insane amount. Palace is one of my favorite venues to photograph in the Twin Cities, so I was excited that Djo chose this venue on his tour stop in Minnesota.

If you don’t know who Djo is, you might know their lead singer from a hit TV show called Stranger Things. Joe Keery stared as Steve Harrington, but has always done music before his fame. He was originally a part of the band Post Animal, which was the support for Djo on this tour which I thought was pretty special. Once he departed the band, he released three albums on a solo project with the alias “Djo” (pronounced Joe) and hit it big on TikTok with his song “End of Beginning”.

Unfortunately, I did miss Post Animal due to having worked this evening, and I was bummed about that as I am a fan of their music. But I was able to make it with a little bit of time to spare to see Djo, and good thing I had the time to spare. The crowd was mainly made up of twenty somethings, packing themselves into the pit like sardines to get as close to the stage as possible. It made it incredibly hard to get to the photo pit. 

Once in the pit, I actually didn’t recognize the three other photographers that were already there which was a first in a long time. Most of the time I recognize at least a few faces. After awhile though I was joined by two other photographers I knew, which it’s always fun to photograph a show with friends. 

You could definitely feel the anticipation in the atmosphere for the band to get on stage. As soon as the lights went out in the venue, it was the ear piercing scream of twenty year old girls. And I am not going to lie, this was probably one of the most enthusiastic crowds I have seen in awhile, if ever. Every single person in the crowd was singing along to almost every single song. There were a few times that I think lead singer Joe Keery giggled because of how loud the crowd was singing, and I am sure there were some personalities in the front row.

The lighting of this show was super fun from a concert enjoyer stand point, creating quite the ambiance. And let me say - I don’t know what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting Joe Keery’s voice to be that insanely good! He sounded better than the studio recordings, I swear. It makes me even more excited to see him later this year in Chicago at Lollapalooza!

If you missed this show, you missed out on a good one. I had heard that it sold out almost immediately, and rightfully so. I cannot wait to see what other music this band releases in the coming years, as they for sure have the star potential.