PFT Commenter and Max Dolente, members of Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take, lie down on stage with members of Mt. Joy as the “Johnson Song” fades away. The crowd is going wild, despite the confusion of many. The Willis Tower looms over the outdoor venue. It is absurd. PFT just shredded on the guitar while Dolente helped out with the vocals. The PMT boys provide the bizarre to probably the only band that would ever want them to. They obviously wanted guys from their favorite sports podcast to help out with their song that is pretty much a long form dick joke. And it was awesome.
Mt. Joy loves Chicago. They have played here 31 times, most of any city, and 12 more times than their native Philadelphia. Mt. Joy loves the Salt Shed. They have played it 9 times, most of any venue, and a venue that opened just over two years ago. They even released a live album exclusively with songs from their performances at the Salt Shed from late in 2023. It will be a comparatively long hiatus for them when they play the United Center on September 13, 2025. It is clear that the band has found a second home in Chicago, and I think that says something pretty awesome about our city and its music scene.
Much of this definitely comes from how much people in Chicago love Mt. Joy. Matt Quinn and his band know this, and like to play particularly long sets. There was no opener, except for that Quinn was not kidding when he said that they were opening for themselves. They played an eleven song first set, took a break, played nine more songs, and then did a two-song encore. They were having fun and playing freely, sort of messing around at points, as expressed most blatantly with PFT and Dolente’s cameo. They were giving what fans wanted, jamming out, making jokes and talking about the Bears. It was a joyous October night that felt like the summer, with good weather and delightful music.
A signifier of Mt. Joy’s comfortability on stage was the way they flowed freely from a handful of their songs into covers. They covered everything from Pixies to ABBA to Gnarls Barkley. Within their song, “Let Loose,” they played a snippet of Sufjan Stevens’ “Chicago” (the night prior it was Djo’s popular panegyric to Chicago, “End of Beginning”).
Their style on the stage illustrates a larger notion about the band. They are not ones to be put into boxes, they will play and do whatever they want, and their fans love them more for it. They are not exactly alternative, indie or Americana, they are Mt. Joy. This is perhaps gleaned from their psychedelic aesthetic, yet they are not exactly nonconformist, as they are happy to play songs certifiably within the popular sphere. With these covers, their range is clear. They can flip a switch quickly between styles, as they did going from their song “Julia” to Bill Withers to the aforementioned Gnarls Barkley. In my judgment, it was these moments on stage where they moved into the persona of a different band that were most memorable, and where they shined most.
I think I was drawn to their covers in part due to a lack of range within their own music. I say this as someone who thinks Mt. Joy is quite a good band, but I often feel like I am waiting for a new feeling when listening to their music. I am not talking about their lyrics, but their instrumentation and production. Their sound is a repeated mix of Quinn’s gentle voice with a catchy guitar riff and a keyboard backing it. They have a sweet nostalgic feel that leaves me wanting more. They have three albums to this point, and they seem to me to sort of be extensions of the last. Even down to the cover art, the three albums lack variety. It will be interesting to see where they go with their next album. I am sure their biggest fans would be disappointed in a change of style, and that is not exactly what I am asking for. I do hope to see them look in a new direction, and provide listeners with a different feeling.
Mt. Joy’s lyrical range hints at potential expansion of their musical range. Their lyrics range from love to grief to politics to getting high (a lot). One of their strongest songs lyrically is “I’m Your Wreck.” Quinn wrote the song with his grandmother in mind, and it addresses his own anxieties and their impact on those around him. The song is unequivocally modern, with metaphors like “there are monsters in the closet / Using up the wi-fi.” In fact, metaphors pervade the entire song, as the narrator eventually is in “San Francisco” to “move through this fog.” He is trying to grapple with a depression, but does not know how to address it. That brings up the great irony of the song, as the narrator claims he “move(s) very well / In silence.” The whole song is about how he does not know how to address his depression, and does not want to broadcast it, all the while singing about it for all to hear. The conclusion comes implicit in the chorus, in which the common phrase “I’m a wreck” moves to the more obscure “I’m your wreck.” The implication is that the love interest must suffer for the narrator. It is the imposing of suffering that is most devastating for the narrator, but is necessary for his survival.
I am not sure exactly what Mt. Joy’s vision for the future is, but they have stressed a focus on their live performance in the recent past. At the end of 2022, they posted about their desire to create a better live experience. They discussed going away from openers, having this two set system, and their resolve “to make the show as immersive an experience as possible.” I think their intentions were pure in a hope to give fans a better experience, but still questions remain. It is unclear if the band is trying to become more of a jam band, or is curating a live set to fit their vision. For a fan that just sees them once, they seem like a band that experiments a good amount, but it is not really the case. They play pretty much the same set night after night, including covers, even though they stated their hope to change things up. I want to stress that I do not see this as intrinsically a bad thing. It can be a good thing at times and a bad thing at others, but it depends on the vision and circumstance of the band. I am unclear on what their vision is exactly, but I think a more ambitious Mt. Joy will be a better Mt. Joy. One aspect of the post that discussed their intentions on the stage was their production budget and some of the other sensory aspects of a show. This gets to my final subject, which is the differences in Salt Shed’s outdoor and indoor venues. The outdoor venue has a great view of the skyline, and great overall vibes, especially if the weather is good. But the indoor venue is much better in terms of sound and visuals, if you are into that sort of thing. I have now seen Mt. Joy once at each venue, and the indoor experience was much better in terms of a sensory experience and production. Beyond a better sound, the visual effects are colorful, immersive and understandably psychedelic. The show inside was a much better representation of Mt. Joy’s vision. While I see great room for growth for Mt. Joy, they are certainly a band worth seeing. If you have not seen them, do not worry, because if past trends hold, we all will have many more chances in Chicago.