Review and Setlist: Mt. Joy Offers a Double Performance and a Touch of Humanity at TD Garden

Mt. Joy performing at TD Garden in Boston on September 20, 2025.

A band from Los Angeles with origins in Philadelphia, Mt. Joy definitely shows real affection for Boston. However, it’s their emphasis on community that really resonates.

Skipping an opening act, Mt. Joy chose to perform a double set at TD Garden on Saturday night, featuring a blend of older and newer songs from their four studio albums.

From clapping and bouncing to “God Loves Weirdos,” a track from the band’s latest album “Hope We Have Fun,” to swaying gently to songs such as “Dirty Love” and “Orange Blood” from earlier albums, the audience, adorned with glowing wristbands, kept up with the music’s intensity and embraced the longer instrumental sections.

The group — Matt Quinn handling vocals and guitar, Sam Cooper on guitar, Jackie Miclau on keyboards, Sotiris Eliopoulos on drums, and Michael Byrnes on bass — played under dim lighting that transitioned between shades of reds and yellows to blues and pinks. A big screen behind them displayed animated visuals, frequently adding a surreal atmosphere to the show.

The performance lasted just under three hours, starting when the band took the stage at approximately 8:15 p.m., featuring a 20-minute break around 9:10 p.m., and concluding with a two-song B-stage encore by 10:50 p.m.

A key moment in the performance occurred approximately two hours into the event when Quinn paused to contemplate hope and humanity, as he presented the band’s song “Lucy.”

He described how the band came up with the song after finding out that a friend had been diagnosed with multiple brain tumors and faced a “challenging outlook.”

The track, issued as a single shortly before the group’s fourth studio album “Hope We Have FunIn May, has since linked Mt. Joy with fans who have faced cancer or other unimaginable challenges.

In July, following a performance atNewport Folk Festival, Mt. Joy held a small concert for young patients atMass General Brigham Children’s with the help of Family Reacha non-profit organization offering financial support to families facing cancer.

I believe what we want to convey is the hope we experience when entering these rooms,” Quinn said about visiting young patients in the hospital. “You anticipate, when meeting individuals in such difficult circumstances, feeling the weight of darkness, but it’s actually the opposite. There’s a positive energy that radiates from people when they come together.

As the audience applauded, Quinn went on, mentioning how this “beautiful piece of humanity” makes him realize that “people can be there for one another, show love to each other.”

Quinn linked this to other significant events affecting the nation and the globe, stating, “To exist in a timeline with things like”Palestine and what’s occurring here in the United StatesIt feels as though there’s a specific moment that we’re all experiencing. Unfortunately, I don’t believe we have the solutions to escape from such situations, but it does seem like we’ve lost our way. Ultimately, we are all capable of so much more than this – and we are.

The frontman stated that although it’s simple to overlook the positive aspects of others, particularly when browsing through social media, “there are countless kind individuals who simply wish to show love, support each other, and care for their families. That’s the huge majority of people.”

“There’s no greater battle than fighting for what is good and just, so I hope this song can illuminate the fact that people are fundamentally good and that we will persevere through this, standing together when needed and doing what is right,” Quinn added.

Mt. Joy has a historyfocusing on social activism and community within its music, voicing opinions onpolitical causesand collaborating with non-profit organizations at its events, including Family Reach andSharing Excess.

They are also familiar with Boston, as Quinn mentioned during the performance.

“It’s a dream come true to be here with all of you in Boston. We’ve had numerous incredible performances in this city over the years,” the singer remarked.

Quinn, a graduate from 2013Northeastern University, even reflected backwriting and performing songs as a student in Boston, he said, “not nearly as many people attended the shows, but this city kept me motivated.”

When the band first revealed the TD Garden performance in December,Quinn took to Instagram to express what it meant to him and the other members, stating, “Many years ago, in an apartment on Mission Hill, I wrote Silver Lining while I was a student at Northeastern.”

At the time, I used to make cold calls and send emails for performances in the area, and sometimes I’d get shows at places like the Middle East upstairs,” he continued. “I would play songs like Silver Lining and other tracks that would later become Mt. Joy songs for mostly my friends who were generous enough to come out and support me. It’s something that 19-year-old me would have done anything to witness—seeing you all sing some of those same songs with us at the Garden.

The group, which has since moved on toplay Boston Calling in 2023 and available forNoah Kahan performing at Fenway Park, is worthy of its spot on the main stage — and the reaction from thousands of fans at TD Garden on Saturday confirmed that.

Even as the band’s popularity increases, their commitment to the community stays strong. Just a month before performing in the big venue at TD Garden, Mt. Joy played asmall flash presentation at The Cantab Lounge, a 137-people venue in Cambridge, asa method of giving something backto nonprofit staff and local service members in Greater Boston.

On Sunday evening, Mt. Joy will continue the musical celebration with another performance in Boston, this time atBig Night Live.

Setlist for Mt. Joy at TD Garden, Boston, Saturday, September 21, 2025

Set 1 on the primary stage

• Lemon Tree
• Orange Blood
• Groove in Gotham
• Let Loose
• Like a Prayer (Madonna cover)
• Highway Queen (song by Mt. Joy and Maren Morris)
• Don’t It Feel Good
• God Loves Weirdos
• Ruins
• Dirty Love
• Johnson Song
• Sado
• Cardinal

Set 2 on the primary stage following a 20-minute break

• Evergreen
• Sheep
• Pink Lady
• I’m Your Wreck
• Rearrange Us
• Mt. Joy
• Strangers
• Lucy
• Julia (with a clip from Tiny Dancer by Elton John)
• Bathroom Light
• Teenage Dirtbag (Wheatus cover)
• Astrovan

Encore on a B-stage

• Jenny Jenkins
• Silver Lining

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