An actor/musician whose tunes are actually good? Well, stranger things have happened.
Many may know musician Djo as actor Joe Keery, who just finished up the run of megahit Netflix series “Stranger Things” this past New Year. Keery played Steve Harrington, a fan-favorite regular in all five seasons of the show. And much like the series, Djo’s music will make you nostalgic for the 1980s.
As a solo musician, he’s released three albums since 2019. The single “End of Beginning,” from his 2022 album “Decide,” had a recent resurgence on TikTok that rocketed it into the Billboard Top 10 earlier this year, and that virality clearly attracted plenty of new fans. Pittsburgh’s sold-out Tuesday night show at Stage AE was the first stop of his summer headlining tour, with dates woven in between shows where he’s supporting Tame Impala on their Deadbeat Tour.
Opening was Australian psychedelic rock band Pond, who added their own flourishes of glam rock and pulsing energy to an already sweltering evening. The teeming crowd wrapped around the entire block waiting to enter the venue even as the openers took the stage, but the already packed Stage AE gave Pond a warm welcome and danced along to their anthemic songs and lead singer Nick Allbrook’s passionate vocal acrobatics.
On songs like “Terrestrials,” the band was having fun experimenting with catchy melodies and stadium rock sounds, even adding touches of spacey keys and growling guitars. Pond played for 45 minutes, but the time flew by in a set of blazing songs.
Much like Pond, Djo mixed up a variety of genres while wearing his influences on his sleeve. Also — fitting of an actor/musician — Keery had his own onstage theatrical sensibilities.
That was clear from his set’s first moments, when he kicked off “Awake” with dark synths, flashing red lights and murmuring vocals. But after a single whooping vocalization at the start of the bridge, the band exploded into a rowdy frenzy of guitars.
The contrast between “Awake” and its follower, “Change,” was a theme that would continue through the concert. Instead of red lights and pounding rock, “Change” was dancey synth-pop, with Keery moving into his higher vocal register.
Ten of the 12 songs from Djo’s 2025 album “The Crux” made it into the 16-song setlist, with one of the record’s highlights, “Basic Being Basic,” coming next. It’s a heavily ’80s-influenced tune, with new-wave touches and Keery affecting a deeper, almost robotic voice. The crowd gleefully shouted along with their favorite lyrics.
The references in his tunes didn’t just stick to the decade of big hair and leg warmers, though. Upbeat song “Link” mixed folk influences with the sounds of 2000s and early 2010s indie rock, and highlight “Potion” could sit comfortably next to a lineup of Fleetwood Mac cuts. Behind him, orange and pink lights sparked as he sang, “leave on the light for me.”
“It’s hot!” he yelled to the crowd. “Is everybody drinking water? Keep doing it! You gotta drink it!”
Between the dreamy “Roddy” and funkier “Fool,” he let the crowd know how much fun he was having. “I love you guys! You’re loud as hell. You having a good time?”
The crowd let him know that they were, in fact, having a good time.
If anyone can tell me what yacht rock song the opening keys and percussion of “Figure You Out” sound like, I would appreciate it, because I can’t … well, figure it out. The tune starts like an ’80s TV show theme song and builds into an epic pre-chorus.
Kicking off with birdsong sound effects, “Charlie’s Garden” filled the night air with cheerful keys and jaunty drums. It was a cheery little ditty that could immediately put a smile on your face, and even sweeter, it’s about Keery’s “Stranger Things” co-star, Charlie Heaton.
The pop-rock “Gap Tooth Smile” had the crowd flying high, but “Delete Ya” sent us back to the era of The Cure and The Cars.
“We’re going to play another new-ish one,” he announced before the slow and gentle “Fly” brought back his whispery vocals and poignant guitar.
“Light it up!” he announced as a sea of phone flashlights winked on, brightening the newly dark night air.
He finished off the regular set with the one-two punch of sprawling tune “Egg” and the familiar sounds of “End of Beginning,” his biggest hit to date. Then, he and the band left the stage before returning for a two-song encore.
After the regular set, the last two selections were interesting choices. The first song was the slower “Chateau (Feel Alright),” which might have fit in better somewhere in the middle of the earlier set. But no one could doubt the effectiveness of the feel-good tune “Back on You” as a closer, with its reverberating bassline, hopping beat and warm-and-fuzzy lyrics. Keery swayed and swiveled around the stage as the crowd cheered him on, everyone having the time of their lives both on- and off-stage.
Sure, there were plenty of “Stranger Things” references yelled out by the crowd and worn on T-shirts by spectators, but the excited fans proved that multi-talented performer Djo is more than a one-hit wonder, onscreen or behind the microphone.