Djo04.07.25
Vancouver, BC
Djo just put out a new record, The Crux, on Friday. That was three days ago. And already the man has hit the road! He played three sold out nights in Portland before making it across the border to play the PNE Forum in East Vancouver. A venue upgrade, at least as far as capacity goes, given that he was initially scheduled to play the Commodore. Not as convenient for me, and a bit of a shame that he didn't get to play the legendary Commodore, but I'm all for more concertgoers getting a chance to see him live.
So I probably should mention that Djo is actually Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington in Stranger Things. But no sense dwelling on that aspect of his fame, as I really think it's his musicianship that should be turning heads. He was initially a member of the psych rock band Post Animal, who actually opened this show, before launching a solo career back in 2019 with his debut record Twenty Twenty. But last year, he hit a meteoric rise to the zeitgeist of TikTok with the track "End of Beginning", off of his second record, Decide, which actually came out in 2022. These first two albums are more ingrained in a psych pop sound (think Lonerism/Currents era Tame Impala), but The Crux feels more rooted in classic rock sounds to me, heavy on The Beatles inspirations ("Charlie's Garden" especially). I've only had the weekend to digest it, but I'm loving how assured it sounds. Loved "Basic Being Basic" as the lead single, and particularly liking the album cuts Link (sounds like a long lost The Strokes track, so good!), Lonesome Being Lonesome, and Back On You.
With the show, my main takeaway was just how awesome this crowd was -- I was a touch worried that the crowd would have just been hanging around waiting for "End of Beginning", but that wasn't the case at all. They were totally locked in with all the lyrics, remarkably so even with all the brand new tracks. Energy was great the entire set, and Djo totally brought it. I didn't realize how much of a multi-instrumentalist he is, hopping between the keys and the strings.
I do want to say, the popularity of "End of Beginning" may undermine just how real those lyrics are, especially to someone like me... "you take the man out of the city, not the city out the man"... oh boy, is that ever true. This month marks one year since I moved to Vancouver, and one of many thoughts that has pervaded my headspace over this year is that you really may not appreciate home until you leave it -- a bit of a harsh truth. For an indefinite or definite period of time, I don't think it really matters, but it takes not just seeing, but living somewhere else to have a sense of hometown pride. It's just one thing, but I carry around my Ottawa Senators fandom like never before. It's almost something I've just grappled on to, so as to not lose where I came from. Probably melodramatic on my part -- I'm still in Canada for crying out loud -- but a raw sentiment to anyone who feels the city they call home is at the crux (no pun intended) of their identity.
But thank you Djo, for keeping it real for a generation that's just trying to navigate through different cities, friendships, relationships, and all that it means to be young in these strange times.
