Mt. Joy Put The Music In The Spotlight With Flawless Armory Performance

I thought about taking this week off from shows in preparation for Riot Fest in Chicago this weekend, but go figure, it didn't last. By the time Tuesday afternoon rolled around, I could tell that I was a bit more tense than usual. My anxiety was starting to get the best of me, and I just felt overall restless. I needed a show, even if sleeping and prepping for the trip might have been a better way to spend my Tuesday night. I hopped in the car and drove down to the massive Armory in downtown Minneapolis, got through the door, and waited for that sweet relief that comes from a live performance.

There were no openers on Tuesday night. It was just one band that thrilled an absolutely packed audience for hours on end, and that band is Mt. Joy. Mt. Joy is a five-piece indie rock band from Los Angeles (by way of Philadelphia). Although their actual band name may not be quite a household name, their songs are starting to take over the world, one speaker at a time, so I'd be willing to bet that you have at least heard a song from this band if nothing else. I'll be honest, the music of Mt. Joy doesn't really excite me. That being said, this band has a special place in my heart. Their calming yet energizing folk-rock leaning sound has become a soundtrack for those days when I'm undecided about what to listen to. It's the type of music that catches your attention as much as it gives you a chance to just tune everything out. Again, it's not super exciting compared to the punk and metal world I typically get lost in, but it's something that I was more than excited to have the chance to check out live.

Since I would consider Mt. Joy more of a "passive listening kind of band", I really can't tell you what songs they played or if there was more focus on one of their four albums or not. What I can tell you is that this band never stopped. It was song after song and jam after jam. That's what surprised me the most about this act. I may not know a lot about this band, but I know that they are a bit commercial when it comes to the composition of their songs. That's not the case when they perform live. Or it is, and they just have me completely fooled. Regardless, there was an organic flow to their set that made it feel like a few of the songs had run out of their designated time, but the band wasn't done with them yet. There were moments when I felt like I was more in the presence of a jam band rather than just a standard indie-rock band, and I loved that.

The Armory is a big venue for the Twin Cities. It holds up to 8,400 people, which, if you think about it, is pretty insane and, no surprise, leads to a lot of shows with giant production behind them. That was not the case on Tuesday night. Mt. Joy's set was music and music only. Sure, there were some epic lights set up around and above the stage, along with a screen at the back of the stage that only enhanced the light show happening, but beyond that, there was nothing here. It was just lights, haze (and a lot of it), and the band. I would have loved to see a bit more pomp and circumstance, maybe a bit more razzle-dazzle, but as I stood towards the back of the giant venue, I realized that that's not what this band is about. Mt. Joy is a band about the music, and they will not compromise that. Maybe there wasn't a lot of production value here, but that didn't stop me and the rest of the audience from being completely transfixed throughout all of the nearly thirty songs that this group performed.

Whether you went to this show because you love Mt. Joy, went to it because you were curious, or got dragged by a friend, I think it's safe to say that you enjoyed yourself. Mt. Joy brought it back to basics in a way, but also left me dazzled and enamored. Yeah, I regret going out on Tuesday night because now I have a night full of packing and planning ahead of me, but it was so worth it to experience the beauty that is Mt. Joy.