On September 30, Djo kicked off his “Another Bite Tour” in Asheville, North Carolina. After a busy weekend performing at both All Things Go festivals and playing pop up shows in between, they finally are playing some southern shows! This show was a long awaited event that I had marked on my calendar from the moment the dates were announced!

Even with the rain, Post Animal started off the night right. The psychedelic rock band from Chicago walked out on stage to an uproar from the crowd and immediately got everyone going with “Caving In,” off their 2020 record Levitation Sessions. In July of this year, Post Animal dropped their sixth album, Iron, with an exciting reunion with former member Joe Keery! Even though the album has only been out a couple months, they have already begun teasing fans with a pre-save link to a single coming soon! Unfortunately, their set was only nine songs, but Post Animal was stellar! Their set included songs like “Setting Sun,” “Pie In The Sky,” and “Last Goodbye” off their most recent album to songs like “Ralphie” and “Gelatin Mode” off their 2018 album, When I Think of You in a Castle. They ended their set with “Dirtpicker,” leaving the crowd wanting more! But no worries, Post Animal made an appearance again during Djo’s set! 

Djo, aka Joe Keery, graced the stage at 8:15 p.m., walking out alone to start his set off with “Awake” from The Crux Deluxe, which was released only a few weeks before the tour kicked off. He then transitions from “Uglyfisherman,” off his 2023 release D-sides, to “Basic Being Basic,” which was the first single released off The Crux. He took a moment to shout out Asheville, a city that holds “friends and friends of friends,” for coming out and waiting in the rain. Many of his previous stops on the first leg of tour were indoors, so this venue was the first night that they had to deal with rain potentially impeding on the performance.

This show was my most anticipated, excited, wanted, etc., show of the year. I could go on and on about how much I wanted to see this show! I have been an avid listener of Keery’s music since he released his second album, DECIDE, in 2022. The joy I felt when I saw that he was finally playing in a city near me was unmatched. The song I was most excited to hear during the show was his song “Egg.” For the first leg of the tour, “Egg” was originally not on the setlist, but it ended up being added later on during the tour! In interviews, Keery mentioned that the song was the one he was most excited to play, but they hadn’t quite figured it out in performing it live.

His song “End of Beginning,” off his sophomore album, is what kick-started his rise to fame last year, so I fully expected the crowd to be the loudest during this part of the set. But I was very pleased to realize the crowd had been just as loud for every other song on the setlist! “End of Beginning” has been at the top of my Spotify Wrapped for 2023 and 2024 respectively, and I am hoping he will release a recorded live version of the hit one day. I didn’t think I could love the song more, but he has consistently performed that song better and better with each show!

Although I was bummed that they didn’t perform as many songs off The Crux Deluxe, but hopefully that means we will hear them on another tour – and to Joe Keery, please add “Purgatory Silverstar” to the setlist! The majority of the set list were songs off The Crux, like “Charlie’s Garden,” “Link,” and “Fly.” I have to give a shout out to drummer Wesley Toledo, who was on fire all night! He plays drums for both Post Animal and Djo each night, with a special drum solo before “Gap Tooth Smile.” He also included songs off DECIDE like “Gloom” and “Half Life,” and some well known songs off his debut album Twenty Twenty, like “Roddy,” and “Chateau (Feel Alright).”

He “ended” his set with “Back On You,” which is a beautiful homage to his sisters, friends, and family. The retired choir kid in me is in awe of the choral segments throughout the song. Obviously, he wasn’t finished with the show— and neither was the crowd! He came back on to finish off the night like every other stop with “Chateau,” and finally had the rest of Post Animal join him on stage to rock out to “Flash Mountain.” I can confidently say that this was one of the best nights of my life and I cannot wait to see Djo live again!

The “Another Bite Tour” continues on throughout October with stops in Atlanta, Nashville, Kansas City, Phoenix, multiple stops in Texas and California, and even more. Djo and co. will also be playing both weekends at ACL! The tour sold-out very quickly when tickets were released, but if you manage to get some, be prepared for a night of fun, and know you’ll be leaving with a new favorite artist and a multitude of new friends!

Follow DJO | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC