Djo takes on night 2 in London
The musician and actor brought his ‘Back On You’ tour to the capital.
Photo: Kamala Adams
With a queue stretching down most of Highgate Road, you’d expect most are here to see Joe Keery, the actor, not Djo, the musician, but something tells me these fans are here to support the whole package, and some might not even know who he is beyond the music. Except for one Stranger Things t-shirt, there aren’t ‘obvious’ fan girls – who cares if there were? – but her t-shirt of the Netflix show is clearly only temporary as she joins me in the long queue for merch.
Tonight is Djo’s second night in London, and the original date he released when he announced the UK leg of his Back On You tour. He has already caused an uproar since his time in London started, culling popular single Delete Ya off his new album The Crux from the setlist, as well as fan-favourites Fool and Mortal Projections, causing upset fans to take to Twitter in their hundreds.
After Post Animal finish their energetic set, I refresh the ‘Djo’ search on Twitter, hoping someone would’ve shared the setlist and we could see if the three fallen soldiers were back for tonight. No such luck, of course, and I’m left hoping at least Delete Ya – arguably one of the best singles on the album – makes its return (spoiler: it doesn’t).
In a cloud of smoke and the intro to Runner, Djo appears before us, met with cheers and woos like no other: his fans are very much in the building, and I count myself among them. The opening notes of the punchy Gloom send everyone into that familiar chorus of woos, and it’s no denying that this gig is going to be one for the history books – after all, he’s got somewhat of a residency at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town, and we’re smack in the middle of it. Guaranteed, next time he’s back in London, the venue’s max capacity won’t be below three thousand.
He wasted no time in bringing out the new album tracks, firstly the fantastic Link and Lonesome Is A State of Mind, both translating excitingly live, proving Djo doesn’t just shine in the studio. Vocally, he was on top of his game and – for someone playing a show almost every night on tour – this was beyond impressive.
Luckily, for those begrudged, Joe brought back Mortal Projections and Fool, much to the audience’s excitement and slows things down with Fly, involving enough emotion to bring the audience to a whisper.
First single, and welcoming of this new ‘era’, Basic Being Basic, goes down exceptionally well, almost on the same par as the viral sensation End of Beginning, that you’d be a fool to have not heard at this point.
He takes things down a notch when he mans the keyboard, sitting down and taking in the audience that has gathered, asking the crowd who was here last night, and who will be here tomorrow. Then follows Figure You Out from 2022 album Decide (arguably one of his best) and fan favourite Charlie’s Garden, which the audience react aptly to (screaming, wooing, quite possibly fainting?).
Chateau (Feel Alright) might just be the best of the night, with the spotlight on Djo and a real vibe in the air: we’re witnessing something special right here, right now, and only the few thousand of us have had the pleasure to (after all, the ticket queue was a nightmare).
The set ends with Potion, another off his latest album, and is the perfect ending — except, of course, no gig ever really ends there: he leaves, then bounds back on with Post Animal in tow for Back on You and a rendition of Flash Mountain that would give King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard a run for their money.
It’s a hot ticket, but if you can get one, get down to see Djo.
