Bongos banged in the parking lot, people grooved in the aisles and music set to a steady jam; Trey Anastasio must have been in town.

Anastasio brought his distinctive guitar sound to the Convocation Center Friday night to promote his recently-released, first post-Phish solo album, “Shine.”

A few audience members congregated outside before the performance to talk about past shows they had seen. Others sold homemade products to anyone willing to buy them.

Inside, much of the audience crammed together on the main floor near the stage, with only intermittent groups taking up residence in upper-bowl seats.

“Ticket sales aren’t great,” said Kevin Selover, the Convo Center’s marketing manager. “But they could have been worse.”

A lot of people traveled for the show, but the audience was dominated by college students, Selover said.

Backed by the newly-formed music project, 70 Volt Parade, Anastasio took the stage at 8:40 p.m. for a two-and-a-half-hour set.

The music did not let up until he paused between songs to point out his musical inspiration of the night: a 3-year-old named Joey who was in the front row of the crowd.

“If I knew that [Bob] Dylan song, I’d play it for Joey,” he said.

Instead, he dedicated a cover of Eric Clapton’s “After Midnight.” After the rendition came to a close, fans, along with Anastasio, started chanting Joey’s name and gave a standing ovation to which the young fan was triumphantly raised in the air for all to see.

Numerous fans were impressed with the song-after-song intensity and atmosphere Anastasio provided.

“He’s everything unique,” said freshman marketing major Chris Matz.

Combined with an impressive light show, the audience hung on every note and movement Anastasio made, many mimicking him when he began to hop up and down.

Half-way through his set, he took the intensity of the show down a notch to strum a few songs on acoustic guitar, one which he claims was only the second time he ever played it live.

Not everyone, however, was in awe of the former Phish front man’s solo act.

“It’s like the ‘Mr. Roger’s’ hour; it’s slow,” said Betsy Blakeman, an NIU law school student.

Anastasio left the stage once for a brief moment at the end of his set, only to be enticed back for one final song to end the evening.

The solo artist was not the only source of the crowd, however.

Jeremy and Allison Purdy were tipped off by a friend in San Francisco and made a four-hour trip from Des Moines to see opening band Tea Leaf Green.

“They are young and very talented and have a ton of possibilities,” Allison said.

The show started shortly after 7:30 p.m. when Tea Leaf Green took the stage. The 45-minute set, which included songs off the band’s newly-released album, “Taught to be Proud,” kept the audience swaying to the music in a melodic wave.

“It’s more of an experience than just a concert,” Selover said.