Howie Day showed his mixing capabilities Friday during the Homecoming Jam as he switched tracks from his usual singer-songwriter performance to try out his talents as a DJ.

Many high school students meshed with the college crowd at the International Center to gaze dreamy-eyed at the 22-year-old musician, who periodically took the stage solo to mix his own tunes.

Day even threw an East Lansing line into one of the songs, making it clever and interesting. But the clever and interesting aspect of his DJ experiment was short-lived, because things got a little boring with repetition.

Day said the college crowd just lets him do his own thing and gives him a sense of coming home - helping to get his creative juices flowing.

"I have a lot of fun with them - I think they're great," Day said. "To me they are very low-pressure and it's more like just going out, and obviously I'm 22, so we're all kind of the same age and I feel we're all just kind of hanging out and it feels really comfortable."

He performed some songs off his new album "Stop All The World Now," which hits stores Tuesday, near the beginning of his performance. "Collide," possibly the best song on the album, shows Day's singing abilities with many pitch changes and meaningful words that felt stronger in his live performance.

"Even the best fall down sometimes/Even the wrong words seem to rhyme/Out of the doubt that fills my mind/I somehow found you and I collide."

Day's ability to mix his sentimental subject matter with clever banter in between songs makes his live performance highly entertaining. His easy style created an intimate atmosphere that was well-liked by both sexes and his sex appeal led to members of both genders screaming they wanted to have his child.

"Hey, calm down," Day responded. "I'm just trying to have a good time."

Day's great performance might have shined a bit brighter since it followed the opening act Funkalinium.

The six-member group from Flint had a style completely on the other side of the scale. Think Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," which the band performed midway through its set, and you have them pegged.

Funkalinium also covered Prince's "Kiss" and the Guns N' Roses hit "Sweet Child O' Mine," with the lead singer pulling off a surprisingly good Axl Rose impression. But as for original tunes, they pretty much all sounded the same.

The opening act was an interesting choice considering the different styles of music, but Howie Day's mellow attitude made him the star of the night.