Article and photos by Lillian Hammer
Djo took the Grinder’s stage in Kansas City on October 7th. Getting there not much earlier than the start of the opener’s set, I spent the time between Post Animal and Djo’s set in the photo pit in front of the barricade talking to fans. Some had lined up as early as 8 in the morning, a majority of them had homemade gifts for the band, and everyone was overwhelmingly happy.
I spent the rest of the show on the balcony of a coffee shop that neighbors the pizza restaurant the venue is nestled in the backyard of. There were two other girls on the balcony with me, one in a beautiful white dress dancing atop a bench the entire night, and the other taking videos of her and occasionally accompanying her dancing. It was like stepping into a story that wasn’t mine, but I felt like I belonged anyway.
That’s how I felt most of the night. I’m not entirely familiar with Djo’s music, but he put on a killer set. I knew a few songs off of his earlier albums but was still able to appreciate the rest of the show. It helped that all of the interactions I had with different fans at the show made me feel totally at home–under the open sky and city lights, surrounded by strangers who somehow felt like friends.
