The Lake Shore Stage filled up for Dayglow in minutes, and not long after, the crowd’s size more than doubled as chants of, “Dayglow! Dayglow!” could be heard from the other side of Grant Park.

These chants turned to screams and applause when Sloan Struble, better known as Dayglow, entered the stage singing in white sunglasses, a checkered button-up, bright red pants and what looked like a blazer made of knit or cotton with decals stitched on. (This blazer eventually came off because it’s not easy to perform in 80-degree weather.)

Immediately, the atmosphere of Lake Shore changed to what can only be described as groovy. With the mix of Dayglow’s quirky outfit and awkward dancing with the feel-good, indie-pop nature of his music, Dayglow’s set felt like something out of a Woodstock documentary. At Lollapalooza, you never what type of crowd you’ll get, but Dayglow’s crowd was one of the most pleasant to be a part of. I didn’t see any members yelling or pushing each other trying to get the best spot, making it clear that everyone was just excited to see Dayglow perform, no matter where they were standing.

Dayglow himself seemed to be enjoying the crowd just as much as they were enjoying him.

“This is a lot of people,” Dayglow said, almost like he was surprised by the number of people who showed up to see him.

Next, the familiar piano riff of “Medicine” followed, which was followed by loud cheers from the audience, signaling this was a fan favorite. This is really where Dayglow’s dance moves started to come out. He danced in short, abrupt moves like he was channeling his inner Mick Jagger. Later he grabbed a guitar, and it was really cool to see him go full rockstar.

“Nicknames” from Dayglow’s first album “Fuzzybrain” was next, and at the end he picked up what looked like a glass bottle and played it with a drumstick, which earned him applause from the crowd. He ended up dropping the stick and laughed at himself, which added to that quirky, kind of geeky personality Dayglow has when he’s performing.

Next, he played “Hot Rod,” one of his most popular songs, and this was definitely the loudest the crowd had been so far. The energy was really great all around, from both the audience, who was dancing and singing to every word, and from Dayglow, who was having just as much fun.

Dayglow confirmed the great energy from the audience, saying, “You guys are awesome. This is very fun,” after finishing the song and introduced himself and his band to the crowd.

“My name is Sloan,” he said. “Not too long ago, I released an album called ‘Fuzzybrain.’” This was greeted with loud screams and applause. “I’m assuming you’ve heard it,” Dayglow said. “I’m 21 years old, so I made this album when I was in high school, right? And I was just waiting for high school stuff to end. Waiting for change to happen, and that’s kind of what made ‘Fuzzybrain.’”

Yes, you read that correctly, this indie-pop rockstar is only 21, but the way he sounded and performed last weekend could easily fool anyone into believing he’s been doing this for at least a decade.

He used this mini speech as a smooth launch into the song “Fuzzybrain,” which was followed by “Whoa Man,” featuring a really awesome guitar solo from bandmate Colin Crawford.

Next Dayglow played “Listerine,” which I thought was one of the strongest songs he performed, both because of Dayglow’s vocals and the energy the song created in the audience. Throughout the whole set, the uniqueness of Dayglow’s vocals really got to shine, but this song showcased that quality even more.

Next was the highly anticipated “Can I Call You Tonight,” the song Dayglow is probably most known for creating. Seeing this live was definitely one of my favorite moments from Lolla, if not my favorite. The first few seconds were enough to give the crowd goosebumps, and by the time that familiar guitar riff came in, the crowd was already on their feet, and the girl behind me passionately screamed, “I love this song!” It’s fair to say that everyone was thinking the same thing, if not already screaming it.

Of all the songs Dayglow performed, this one, not surprisingly, went the hardest, and the atmosphere was incredible with the combination of this indie-pop anthem being performed live right before our eyes and the dancing going on in the audience. Nothing quite beat this performance.

Dayglow followed with “Crying on the Dancefloor” from “Harmony House,” an emotionally honest song with lyrics like “I looked at you and felt for a moment / Thought of all the ways that it’s not anymore / But now I’m crying on the dancefloor.” The song featured a live saxophone solo from one of his bandmates, which was the standout moment from this song.

Then Dayglow played “Close to You,” one of my personal favorites, which was one of the best performances of his set (and based on the crowd’s heightened screams and growing intensity of their dance moves, I wasn’t alone in thinking this).

Then Dayglow did something so unexpected but so right for him. He covered Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” This song was literally made for Dayglow to cover, and he absolutely owned it. In another life, this song belongs to Dayglow, but at the Lake Shore Stage on that perfect Thursday afternoon with this indie-pop mastermind mesmerizing the audience, that song did belong to Dayglow.

Dayglow closed with “Run the World!!!” a high-energy song that, though was released in 2019, feels super relevant now, being a song that emphasizes wanting to stand out and not be held back from limitations. It was a great way to close out the set, and though Dayglow may (not yet) run the entire world, it was clear he ran Lollapalooza that afternoon.