The five musicians comprising the indie-rock band Mt. Joy made their second appearance at John Paul Jones Arena Saturday — but their first one as a headliner. Their new tour “Hope We Have Fun” kicked off in Charlottesville and promoted their new album which will be released May 30. The lively show featured songs from all three of their previous albums, covers and some new and unreleased tracks from the upcoming album. It was split into two sets with a brief intermission.
Mt. Joy’s songs can be heard from Coupes to Rugby Road fraternity houses, and there were many University students in attendance Saturday. With their salt-of-the-earth, folky lyrics and light, easy sound — mainly composed of electric and acoustic guitar, keys, drums and bass — Mt. Joy encouraged students, and all audience members, to let loose and feel the fun in life. Throughout the performance, the crowd buzzed with energy — clapping along to songs, screaming lyrics, holding up signs and flashlights and doing plenty of dancing.
From the jump, audience members were entranced. When keyboardist Jackie Miclau played the opening notes to the fan favorite song “Julia,” the crowd erupted. The band kept the energy going with two more popular tracks, “Jenny Jenkins” and “Orange Blood” which share a meandering, laidback sound. Lead singer and guitarist Matt Quinn led both these songs on his acoustic guitar, which made them feel very folk.
For the popular song, “Orange Blood” the animation featured a surreal, bright orange sun because the song mentions “orange blood, dripping from the sun.” Similarly, the band played “Highway Queen” silhouetted by an animation of a red car on a highway. The dreamlike colors and fantastical animations are hypnotizing, making it hard to look away.
After, the band pivoted away from popular hits to play an unreleased song from the new album called “Pink Lady.” The track maintained the band’s iconic sound, but was delightfully more intense and rock than usual. They followed with the recently released second track on “Hope We Have Fun”’ called “Coyote.”
First-year College student Ruby Goff has seen the band three times and appreciates Mt. Joy’s shifting, bright backgrounds and variability in their setlist.
“The hallucinogenic background with bright colors and shifting shapes has been a key part of all their shows, and continues to be one of my favorite features. I also enjoyed the mix of their top hits, playing new songs, unreleased songs and even one cover,” Goff said.
The most vulnerable and touching moment of the show came when Quinn introduced a new track – “Lucy.” The song is about the band members playing the famous venue, Madison Square Garden, then finding out about their friend's cancer diagnosis. He expressed a sentiment that is common in all of Mt. Joy’s songs — the importance of appreciating time on Earth.
“If your feet are here, you might as well dance,” Quinn said.
The band also played two covers. They surprised fans by beginning a cover of “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus without introducing the song first. Also, to little surprise to fans — as the band are self-proclaimed Deadheads — they played “Casey Jones” by The Grateful Dead.
In classic Grateful Dead fashion, Mt. Joy did a good bit of jamming — where the musicians were able to improvise and deviate from the recorded version of the song. The band gave each musician time to flex their musical muscles. In the first set, during “Rearrange Us,” Miclau broke away from the rest of the band, and gave an impressive performance on the keys. Her fingers flew across the keys at what seemed like inhuman speed. After intermission, drummer Sotiris Eliopoulos had a similar moment. He seemed to get lost in the music and played an incredibly intricate, fast-paced drum track. Each time, the crowd went wild in support for the musicians.
Before launching into their most popular songs, “Strangers” and “Silver Lining,” the band played their soft ballad “Bathroom Light.” The song gave the audience a moment of appreciation and quiet before the band built up the energy for the end of their show.
First year College student Maeve Bradley was mostly unfamiliar with Mt. Joy, but connected to this moment especially after being invited by her friend to attend the concert.
“I really enjoyed the vibes of the concert … The song that stuck out to me the most was ‘Bathroom Light,’ I’d never heard it before, but I’ve listened to it like seven times since leaving the concert,” she said.
Once the band left the stage, the crowd began chanting “one more song.” To the audience's delight, they came back on stage, and Mt. Joy ended their set with “Astrovan.” The song encapsulated Mt. Joy’s quirky, lighthearted vibe with lyrics about Jesus driving a magical van and smoking weed, and it was the perfect way to complete their set.
Mt. Joy’s songs will certainly continue to be popular among University students. Next year, you will not have to go far to hear Mt. Joy’s “Silver Lining” or “Sheep” coming from a yard off of Rugby Road.
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