As people rushed into Cleveland’s House of Blues on Friday night — partly due to their excitement and partly to escape the chilling nighttime air — the small venue became more and more alive, brimming with anticipation.
Fans packed into the Euclid Ave. venue to see Dayglow, the indie-pop band formed by 22-year-old singer-songwriter Sloan Struble. During the wait, murmurs spread throughout the crowd, estimating when the main act would take the stage. But first, the opener.
To temporarily satisfy the crowd’s musical appetite, Dayglow chose Courtship, a musical duo whose synth-inspired “Sunroof” matched the pep of Dayglow’s style. Though, their song “Guy Stuff” — which begs the question of “Why do guys like knives?” in the first line — felt misplaced and oddly immature. Despite the hiccup, the band quickly recovered and left the crowd buzzing with approval.
A short time later, the main event took the stage. Struble came out swinging with “Something,” the first track on his sophomore album, Harmony House, released in May. As multi-colored lights filled the small concert space and Struble’s unique brand of dance moves took center stage, the audience ate it up.
After, the band dove into “Nicknames,” a throwback to Struble’s 2018 debut album, Fuzzybrain. On stage, he sang about how he isn’t the person a certain someone thought he was and channeled his inner Saturday Night Live-era Will Ferrell. After all, what’s a song without a little cowbell?
Before sitting down at a piano to slow the showdown, Struble called on a fan favorite: “Hot Rod.” With a similar message to “Nicknames,” the song had the crowd even more amped, singing along with every word as the floor bowed slightly beneath it. But, the high-tempo attitude didn’t last for long.
Taking a seat across from a row of black-and-white piano keys, Struble serenaded his fans with “December” and “Dear Friend,” two songs that reminisce on the changes and the lost connections in his young life. Once he vacated the piano, those feelings remained with his song “Fuzzybrain.”
Struble wrote the song to commemorate his feelings as an 18-year-old college student going through changes and uncertainties, as “most people that age” do. In his undeniable confusion, he managed to create undeniable art.
To end the concert (or so it seemed), Struble whipped out another classic, his energetic and dance-worthy beat “Close to You.” As the crowd grooved to the beat and Struble seemed perfectly in his element, it looked as if there was no better way to end the concert. Following the last note, the band exited as displeased fans chanted “one more” over and over again. After about a minute, the band reentered, and Struble exceeded the crowd’s expectation with three little words:
“How about two?”
The question was met with overwhelming cheers, applause and the band’s very own rendition of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Tears for Fears. Following a similar theme, the concert officially ended with Dayglow’s “Run The World!!!,” a beautiful mashup of punchy guitar and heavy drums, booming lyrics and blazing lights.
After the band officially left the stage, murmurs again made their way throughout the crowd. But this time, they were positive, and the masses seemed to share the same general consensus. In a night filled with upbeat music and an acknowledgment by Struble that it felt nice just to be out and about again, Dayglow delivered.
