Ahead of his first main stage appearance at Reading and Leeds Festivals this weekend, Dayglow treated a handful of fans to a more intimate rendition of his Harmony House tour show, at the unassuming Colours in Hoxton on Thursday night. Capped at 200 attendees and sold-out within the blink of an eye, I felt privileged to find myself up close and personal with the man himself without having to sacrifice hours of my time or centimetres of my space. You would be forgiven for mistaking the weekday for a lively Saturday evening; the audience were ready from the get-go to give themselves over entirely to the music.
This began with openers HighSchool, who set the tone convincingly and impressed listeners with an array of the obscure, self-prescribed ‘goth-pop’ tracks from their 2021 EP, Forever At Last. Lead vocalist Rory Trobbiani picked up on the vibrant ambiance immediately and fed off this energy to supply a spirited performance, marked with moments of charm and humour between songs. The suitably named “New York, Paris and London” emerged as a standout and armed with a healthy dose of confidence and enthusiasm, the band doubtlessly left the bar with a multitude of new fans.
No more than fifteen minutes elapsed before Dayglow arrived to rapturous cheers, dress code very much business in the shirt and party in the snazzy tie. The setlist quickly became recognisable as that of his most recent stint across the UK and Europe, with the notable additions of his recent releases “Deep End” and “Then It All Goes Away,” both of which were particularly well-received. An evident hum of recognition accompanied popular tracks “Hot Rod,” “False Direction,” and “Can I Call You Tonight?”, the latter of which took the energy impossibly high. However, the crowd stayed with Sloan the entire way, sliding through his delectable synth-pop album tracks with ease and keeping spectators on their feet the entire time. Perhaps an unexpected fan favourite came in the form of “Crying on the Dancefloor” – the chorus was roared back to the band, who even themselves were taken by surprise at our conviction.
Slightly less surprising was the euphoric response to everybody’s not-so-guilty pleasure track “Close To You,” which closed out the main set in monumental fashion. At one point turning the mic towards the horde of voices and faces looking back at him wondrously, Sloan so successfully harnessed the power of this masterclass in the electronic indie genre. He graciously took the opportunity to groove with us, propelled across the stage by the pure joy that this piece rouses. This was arguably the song a lot of people had been waiting for and it far surpassed expectation or even imagination, the irony of the genuine closeness between artist and fan in that moment not lost on either of us.
What permeated the performance most strongly was the unending sense of gratitude Dayglow displayed, stopping between tunes to express just how thankful he was to be sharing the evening with such a small and dedicated group of individuals. He briefly explored how important music is in uniting otherwise unconnected people and noted how scary the climate is for making authentic work and deviating from what has become expectation for artists. Touching upon the futility of a desire to go viral in today’s industry, the impression became not only that Sloan is immensely talented but also switched-on to the dangers of the digital age. Everyone took a second moment to reflect upon just how lucky we were to be sharing this time together in real life.
If you can get yourself into any show by this superstar then I highly recommend you do, and quickly. If you can get yourself into a Colours-sized venue, all the better.
Dayglow is embarking on a North American tour in October, the dates of which can be found below:
10/9/22 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
10/10/22 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Square Theatre
10/13/22 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
10/14/22 – San Diego, CA – SOMA
10/15/22 – Los Angeles, CA – The Novo
10/19/22 – Salt, Lake City, UT – The Union
10/21/22 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
10/22/22 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo
10/23/22 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
10/25/22 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
10/28/22 – Dallas, TX – South Side Ballroom
10/29/22 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
10/30/22 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
11/1/22 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
11/2/22 – Minneapolis, MN – Palace Theatre
11/4/22 – Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
11/5/22 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyption Room
11/6/22 – Columbus, OH – Kemba Live
11/8/22 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
11/10/22 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern
11/11/22 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore
11/12/22 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
11/14/22 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club (SOLD OUT)
11/15/22 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
11/17/22 – New York, NY – Terminal 5
11/18/22 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
11/19/22 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
11/21/22 – Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre
11/22/22 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
11/26/22 – Orlando, FL – The Beacham
11/27/22 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live
11/28/22 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Revolution Live
12/2/22 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s
