Show Review : Mt Joy’s Musical and Visual Storytelling
Artists and Instruments from Left to Right: Sam Cooper (Electric Guitar), Michael Byrnes (Bass Guitar), Sotiris Eliopoulos (Drums), Matt Quinn (Vocals and Guitar), Jackie Miclau (Keys)
I want to start off with an acknowledgment to my personal bias in this review, as Mt Joy is one of my favorite bands.
On a warm, sun filled August Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending a Mt Joy concert at the Fillmore in Detroit. The city was packed as there was a Tigers baseball game, WWE Summer Slam, and a Smokey Robinson concert all going on downtown, which is great for Detroit, not so great for parking prices. Mt Joy fans stood out in the crowds of thousands as they lined the sidewalk of Woodard Ave and Elizabeth St, making friendship bracelets, sharing stories, playing the band's music, and taking pictures with the iconic “The Fillmore” marquee in anticipation of the concert. The Fillmore is one of my personal favorite Live Nation venues as it is a historic venue built in the 1920s with artwork lining the walls above general admission opening to a large dome ceiling with a seated balcony plus they even have two giant knights in shining armor “guarding” the stage.
Prior to the show, a lot of the crowd was questioning if there was an opening band, there was not, which turned into the crowd being treated to a double set from Mt Joy, including many hits, covers and B side “deep cuts” to excite the die-hard fans in the crowd.
The opening song “Sheep” is a commentary on the Baltimore riots after the killing of Freddie Grey, calling attention to the political climate in America, questioning the audience's own personal ethos with lyrics saying “it haunts me now, tell me it haunts you too,” and setting a early precedence for what the band stands for from the very first song. At that time the lighting is just a few spot lights and bar lights, flashing red, white and blue while the band plays. A quick transitionhhhh is made to “Evergreen'' as the screen left dark during “Sheep” behind the band iluminates to bright green imagery. This screen and lighting was an incredible addition to the story-telling of the band; changing themes for every song with different psychedelic art that changes with to match the total stage lighting. Evergreen is the first song where you can see and hear the chemistry of the band, specifically between Matt Quinn (lead vocals and guitar) and Sam Cooper (Guitar). Quinn and Cooper are long time friends from Philadelphia that left other career interests to pursue creating music after “Astrovan” took off. They take time during this song to riff off each other as Quinn is having technical difficulties with his guitar, Cooper is able to pick up the slack and the song sounds no different. The sound techs quickly resolved the issue and the band moved on to fan favorites including Jenny Jenkins, Orange Blood, Ruins, Dirty Love, Bug Eyes, and Bathroom Light. Every song allowed for the band to riff and play around with instruments and deviate from the original sound all while being silhouetted by the light show happening on the screen. Then the song “Let Loose” is opened with an interlude that allowed pianist Jackie Miclau to show off her skills; that was transitioned into a cover of “Old Town Road” introduced by Cooper's subtle nods to the familiar riff from early on in the song. The band has mentioned in interviews before that “Let Loose” is a tribute to the band’s collective favorite band, Grateful Dead,(which is also shown on the vintage Grateful Dead shirt Quinn dons) and the live version of this song expresses that, as there is a lot of room for “jamming” and a clear musical chemistry among these artists.
The first set closed with a cover of a John Prine classic “Angel from Montgomery” ; it was one of the more intimate parts of the show, just Quinn on stage with an acoustic guitar. He complimented the city and asked the audience to continue to be kind while he sang a song alone. The moment felt like not only a tribute to the late-great John Prine, but a dedication from Quinn to his love and appreciation for the genre of folk music. The spectacular screen behind him fell dark and the crowd fell silent while Quinn performed a beautiful rendition of the song.
The band opened the second set with the song “I’m Your Wreck.” This song was one of my favorite parts of the show as the band stopped all music besides Quinn’s guitar and completely dimmed the lights during the lyrics “Stitch it together kid, I know you know better. Take a real deep breath and I'll burn the letter. This is headlights in the fog. This is headlights in, ooh,” where all the band members yelled the lyrics along with the crowd, a testament to not only how much the music means the members, but the audience as well. This intro to a more hopeful bridge including all band members playing with the lighting on the stage transitioning from blue and purple to bright oranges and yellows, as the band continues to explain the concept of the songs with imagery and lighting. During this song bass player and producer, Michael Byrnes, is given the space to show off his skills in a funky solo while his band members look on with adoration.
Continuing the setlist on to more hits of Rearrange Us, Strangers, my personal favorite Lemon Tree, Younger Days, and Mt Joy. To another cover, “Fire on the Mountain” which gave every artist a moment to showcase their skills including a drum solo from Sotiris Eliopoulos and a guitar solo from Cooper. Eliopoulos was hyped up by Miclau who started the crowd in praise for the band’s drummer. Another homage to the band's love of music and an example of the chemistry of this band. I cannot continue with the article without complimenting the band's ability to pull off not only a 5 minute long cover with multiple solos, but a cover of an American classic and keep the crowd happy and entertained. I have seen many bands attempt to cover the Grateful Dead and I have seen Dead and Co perform and this was a great version of this song. It was truly something special to watch them jam and communicate in the unwritten language that is music.
They close the second set with Cardinal, a 5 minute long version of Julia showcasing Miclau’s beautiful piano playing, and ending with Silver Lining. Closing with Silver Lining ends the concert on a similar note that it started with by the band communicating through the song “this is who we are and this what what we stand for.” Silver Lining is a song that Quinn wrote after experiencing a lot of drug related deaths in his personal life, with a warning and reminder to the listener to “tell the ones you love, you love them.” Encouraging the audience to “let the music play you through the pain” and wear a silver lining. It truly was a magical moment as it is clearly a fan favorite with the ability to audibly hear the entire crowd cheering and dancing with the visual scene playing bright hopeful scenery. The band blew kisses to the crowd and bowed.
Now comes the part of the show I always judge a band on, the cheers before the encore. Mt Joy made a bold choice, played one of their fan favorites, the most streamed song they have as a closer before the encore, even people who were dragged to that show by a friend, would know Silver Lining. Being a pit person, I always turn around and look to see if people are “beating the traffic.” Not a single person left, the entirety of the the sold out crowd stayed to see the encore, the crowd was loud and ready for more Mt Joy. The band returned to play “Johnson Song,” one of the more fun songs and closed with another very popular song “Astrovan”. Continued in the encore was the band’s electric personality, ability to riff and chemistry, still silhouetted by bright rainbow lights and incredible visuals. The crowd was loud and engaged and loved every bit of the double set from Mt Joy.
This Detroit show was the 2nd on the world tour for the band that includes iconic festivals and venues including an entire SOLD OUT weekend at Red Rocks in Colorado and opening for Greta Van Fleet in Europe on the Starcatcher World Tour. The stage, the lighting, the backdrop, the chemistry makes for a magical night, if you have the opportunity to catch them on tour…GO!!!
