Not understanding the hype of something is an alienating experience, and that’s how I felt among the general admission crowd at Djo’s performance at Palace Theatre in St. Paul Saturday.

Djo, pronounced “Joe,” is the musical project of actor and musician Joe Keery, best known for his role as Steve Harrington on “Stranger Things.”

Djo began as something of an alter-ego for Keery, a parody of a 1970s businessman/rock superstar. The psychedelic, glimmering rock sounds of that decade pervade his discography, particularly on his latest album “The Crux,” which came out April 4.

Keery broke through last year when the song “End of Beginning” off his 2022 record “Decide” went viral on TikTok.You’ll know it by its passionate refrain, “And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it.” It’s an emotional whirlpool of a song about mourning one’s youth that resonates despite its ubiquity — it’s popular, but not shallow.

As a whole, Djo’s music makes for an engaging listen through headphones or the speakers of a record player, but Keery failed to translate his unique musical vision into his performance at Palace Theatre.

Keery made no attempt to play a character, dressed casually in a baseball cap, yellow cardigan, jeans and sneakers, but this didn’t lend itself to authenticity as one would expect.

Other than the courtesy “Thank you for coming”s, Keery made little effort to connect with the crowd, relying on flashing lights and booming instruments to generate excitement.

He offered a crumb of vulnerability by expressing his love for his band before performing the song “Fly” from “The Crux.”

“These are my great pals,” he smiled. The crowd cheered because, of course, they did, but the occasional “I love you!” cries always seemed to go unheard.

Earlier in the show, and just five songs in, Keery introduced his band members, which made it feel like he wasn’t trying to stay for long.

The emotional distance Keery kept from his fans came across as a sense of entitlement and undermined the earnestness that is, in fact, present in his music.

Ultimately, Djo shows are for devoted fans with established emotional connections to the music, not for newcomers looking to witness a new dimension of creativity.

Keery singing the chorus to “Basic Being Basic” felt like a Freudian slip.

“I think you’re scared of being basic / That’s ironic ‘cause it’s reading like you’re even more basic,” Keery sang.

To Keery’s credit, “The Crux” is an interesting concept album that explores a variety of sounds, from synthy psychedelic rock to introspective acoustic indie. Its lyrical themes center around The Crux Hotel, “a hotel housing guests who are all, in one way or another, at crossroads in their life.”

According to Keery, it speaks to the “community, collaboration, and character” found at those crossroads, and he wrote the record while he was away from home filming.

Keery sings about love and loneliness with both theatricality and vulnerability, but the story of “The Crux” still feels scattered and fake deep.

It stands in stark contrast to his older and more experimental records, “Decide” and “Twenty Twenty,” perhaps because back then, he wasn’t trying to ride on the coattails of his own algorithmic success.

Some genuinely good artists have achieved hard-won recognition because of overnight internet virality. Doechii and Chappell Roan both fit that bill, and lo and behold, they both won Grammy Awards this year. But this wasn’t just sheer luck, it’s also because they brought their whole selves to their craft, performance included.

If Djo wants more than a world tour, devoted fans and one memeified song, he should try being himself for a change.