By the time Djo stepped onto the stage at Laneway Festival 2025, he was already something of a secret. The indie project of Stranger Things star Joe Keery had been making waves for years. But no one was prepared for what happened next.
When the drum intro of “End of Beginning” kicked in, the crowd erupted. And somewhere in that roar, a fan named Alex lost her sunglasses—temporarily. Keery grabbed them, put them on, and played the song that would become the festival’s most talked-about moment .
The video went viral. Of course it did.
What Is “End of Beginning”?
Released in 2022 on Djo’s album DECIDE, “End of Beginning” is a dreamy, synth-driven song about looking back at a version of yourself you’ll never be again. Keery wrote it after moving from Chicago to Los Angeles—leaving behind his college years, his early band Post Animal, and a whole chapter of his life .
The lyrics are simple but devastating:
“And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it / Another version of me, I was in it”
It’s about nostalgia, but not the sad kind. It’s about gratitude for who you used to be.
Two years after its release, the song exploded on TikTok—entirely on its own, without ever appearing in Stranger Things . By 2025, it had racked up over 1.4 billion streams and gone Platinum . And suddenly, Joe Keery wasn’t just “Steve Harrington with a guitar.” He was a legitimate rock frontman.
The Laneway 2025 Performance: Pure Magic
Laneway Festival hit Australia and New Zealand in February 2025, with a stacked lineup featuring Charli XCX, Clairo, and Beabadoobee . But Djo’s set became an instant legend.
Triple J uploaded the performance on February 11, and it racked up over 2 million views . The crowd sang every word back to him. The band created a “dreamy atmosphere” that critics called “relaxing, comfy, and deeply felt” . And when Keery borrowed those sunglasses from the audience? That moment alone spawned countless TikToks .
Even the rain couldn’t dampen the mood. Performing in Melbourne as the first drops of a storm began to fall, Djo turned a festival set into something intimate and unforgettable .
The Critics Weigh In
Not everyone was completely sold. One reviewer noted that the audience seemed “lackluster” until “End of Beginning” started—raising the question of whether Djo might be a one-hit wonder .
But The Guardian saw it differently. Reviewing Djo’s Brooklyn show just months after Laneway, they wrote: “End of Beginning gave me goosebumps—a glittering three-minute hymn to the passage of time” . They praised Keery’s ambition and his refusal to let the viral hit define him.
And that might be the real story. Keery has spent years separating his music from his acting career—even wearing wigs in early Djo performances to avoid the Stranger Things association . But at Laneway 2025, he wasn’t hiding. He was just a guy in borrowed sunglasses, singing his heart out, while thousands of fans sang along.
Why This Performance Matters
“End of Beginning” is rare: a song that became a hit twice, years apart, without ever being in the show that made its singer famous . The Laneway performance captured that magic live—proof that some songs are bigger than their origin stories.
And for the fans who were there? They didn’t just hear a hit. They witnessed an artist stepping fully into his own spotlight.
As one YouTube commenter put it: “15 years down the line, this video will make people feel nostalgic about the good old days. Songs like this are rare, and performances like this are even rarer” .
Not bad for a guy who was supposed to be a one-season character on a Netflix show.