Mt. Joy is in good company. They drift within the same waters as The Head and the Heart and the Lumineers, and are quickly establishing themselves as a household name in the folk-pop genre. On March 30th, Philadelphia’s indie heroes, Mt. Joy, delivered a powerful performance full of nonstop smiles and fun at their sold out Fillmore show.
Wilderado serves as the perfect opener for Mt. Joy. Their infectious guitar riffs and harmonies seeped into the crowd like molasses and created a collective heartbeat. The whole room seemed to bend and sway as the audience greeted the band and encouraged their performance. Wilderado would make the perfect soundtrack for a roadtrip with some of your best friends.
Mt. Joy slowly take the stage but they do not waste time with a dramatic entrance. They quickly grab their instruments and break into “I’m Your Wreck.” They do not care to banter much with the audience except to marvel over the fact they are playing the Fillmore. The audience does not seem to mind, but they proudly sing every lyric back to the band and dance with their present company. The band seems to cast a spell over the crowd as they groove as a collective unit and share a never ending smile between one another and the audience. There are few bands today that seem so genuine within their performances. I felt a strange closeness to each member, as if they were old friends I was witnessing achieve their dreams.
The band performs the majority of their debut (and only) album, but also manage to find room for a couple covers including Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” and Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Each song reminds me of how a Coen Brothers’ film unfolds: witty humor, diverse stories, and an existential but collective identity. Mt. Joy is vulnerable, but that’s part of their universality to many different fans.
Mt. Joy seems wise beyond their years. As they perform “Astrovan” it strikes me how fitting the song is for San Francisco. Matt Quin, the lead singer, calls out “Doobie smoking Jesus puts my name up on his guestlist / He said son you’re famous in heaven / Maybe you’re famous in heaven.” The song tells the story of a deadhead searching out Jerry Garcia as he travels across the country, but it truly serves as an ode to a dream of something more. I was bewitched by their stage presence and how their sound blended so perfectly into the infamous walls of the Fillmore. It was hard not to become emotional. The band grounded me and reminded me there is so much more than the everyday worries we have. They remind us to have dreams, to seek out a better tomorrow, and that, in the end, we only truly have the ones we love and our dreams.
Before ending the night with their first single, “Cardinal,” Quinn reminded the audience: “At the end of the day, you can get through a lot of shit with the right people.”
Article and photos by Makaila Heifner