Dayeeker Bring the "Pale Moonlight" to Jersey's Starland Ballroom

At some point during their set, Rory Rodriguez of Dayseeker said, “We brought the best fucking tour on the planet to you!” And he wasn’t wrong. It was a packed 4 band bill at Starland Ballroom that had cars literally lining up down the street. I have been to Starland countless times over the last 15 years, and I have seen a million packed parking lots there. But most shows do not have an overflow of cars lining the road.

sace6 opened up the show and the crowd was ready. Packed against the barricade, the audience surged forward when the band took the stage. Fusing pop, metal and R&B, the band really was a perfect choice to open up the night.

Next up on this packed bill was Wind Walkers. To say they have been blowing up lately would absolutely be an understatement. Trevor Borg leads the band well, switching between soft melodic vocals and power. Songs like “Body Bag” and “Hang Fire” were met with thousands of voices singing back from the crowd.

Northlane were next up — hailing from Australia but it was clear that even so far from home, NJ welcomed them with open arms. A heavier sounds with a lot of industrial electronics throughout their set. Vocalist Marcus Bridge encouraged cheering and jumping and the crowd never stopped moving. I had never seen them play before but they were fun to watch and they kept everyone engaged. Their job is to warm everyone up for the headliner, and songs like “Carbonize,” “Dante,” Evian,” and others really got the blood pumping. They ended their set with a melody of some of their older tracks which was a fantastic way to wrap it up.

At 9:30 or so the lights dimmed and the LED screen that backed Dayseeker started glowing. A voice came over the speakers with words flashing on the screen, illuminating vines and an actual coffin on stage. After a little bit of time vocalist Rory Rodriguez walked out followed by the rest of the band. By the time they all hit the stage, you could hear the screams and feel the energy pulse off the crowd. “Pale Moonlight” opened up their set, and it was also the first single from their fantastic new album. It feels like a perfect way to begin- the song starts off soft and builds into something utterly explosive. If you don’t know the band you can listen to this song and really get a fantastic idea about what the band does so well.

I am a huge fan of the band and I have been looking forward to this show for months. Spoiler alert: they never disappoint live. Over the last few years Rodriguez has been really open about mental health and how the death of his father has affected him, and those honest lyrics combined with incredible music has built up a rabid fan base. He pointed the microphone towards the crowd often and those moments were always met every word being screamed back at him. He effortless floats back and forth between beautiful singing to gut wrenching anguish, and the band is always right there backing him up.

The set leaned on the amazing new album, Creature Of the Black Night, but they also played the hits from other records as well. The set list managed to flow back and forth between the more melodic and heavier songs. “Shapeshift,” “Dreamstate,” and “Burial Plot” kept the mood flowing before they ripped into “Crawl Back to My Coffin”. Before playing that track Rory addressed the crowd thanking them for helping make that song the number 1 on rock radio. Halfway through the set Rory sat down at the keyboard and played a beautiful cover of My Chemical Romance’s “The Ghost of You” before a gorgeous rendition of “Forgotten Ghost.”

Throughout the night Rory addressed the crowd. Sometimes sharing some stories, and more than once he just stopped to make sure everyone was ok in the audience. He spoke about how they used to play to 50 people on a good night, and now they are selling out rooms of thousands. But he never seemed like he was bragging. He was grateful. You could hear it in his voice. The neon lights and images flashing on the screen behind them really leaned into Dayseeker’s general vibe. Their visuals as well as merch have always been used to bring you into their world. Once you’re there, they then write these songs that keep you there. Songs like “Nocturnal Rememdy” and “Creature in the Black Night” are used to wring out every ounce of energy. Then they hit you with “Crying While You’re Dancing” and you are just lost in the groove. They ended their set with the song that broke them into the mainstream, “Sleeptalk.” That is the song that first introduced me to them and I will never get tired of hearing it. They came back out playing “Neon Grave” for the encore and they stayed on the stage for a minute or so after the last chords rang out.

Dayseeker have been a band for 14 years, but they are getting bigger every day. Rory spoke about how they almost broke up before “Sleeptalk” helped launch them forward. It doesn’t seem like they have stopped rising since then. I have seen them 3 times now, each time they tour they are selling out bigger rooms. But It still seems like they’re not fully launched yet. I think they will continue to keep playing rooms that will lead to arenas, and I don’t know of a band better suited for the biggest rooms. They command a crowd and energy like few bands can. I am glad I have been able to see them build their fan base over the years, but I know someday soon they will be playing arenas Ticketmaster will price you out of. If you can catch them before then, you need to jump on it. This will end up being one of the best tour packages of 2026, I am sure of it.