Mt. Joy take on Glasgow’s SWG3
The band opted for no support.
Photo: Isla Kerr
It’s a bold move to do a run of shows with no support act. Indie folk heroes Mt. Joy have taken on just that on this UK tour — and they pulled it off with style on Thursday at Glasgow’s SWG3.
Dividing their show into a first and second half allowed the band to play a total of twenty songs to a delighted Glasgow crowd.
I’m Your Wreck was an early high point as the audience sang along word for word to the opening track from their 2018 self-titled album. Matt Quin (vocals and guitar) used the first lull in the set to draw attention to the show’s unusual format: “It’s just us tonight… we’re effectively opening for ourselves”. Unorthodox, yes, but when you have as many classic tracks as Mt. Joy your audience doesn’t really need warming up. This was evident tonight as energy levels ran high from the get-go.
Jackie Miclau’s skill on the piano was mesmerising to watch. She soundtracked the evening with such flair that at times it was hard to tear your eyes away from her corner of the stage.
The crowd sang along word for word to the emotional ballad Strangers. Upon it’s completion, Matt sentimentally commented, “It’s amazing to come to a place so far away from home and hear people singing that song”. Impressed by us, Matt soon added that he “would love to be a Glaswegian” and that it was “such a cool name for a group of people”. Hearing the nickname said with an American twang and praised in a way it normally isn’t earned a laugh out of tonight’s audience. We all seemed to be internally questioning if he would feel the same after spending longer in our great yet grey city.
An unexpected blend of two tracks that couldn’t seem further apart steered the night in a new direction. Julia started off as expected but soon transformed into dance classic Praise You by none other than Fatboy Slim. Taken aback by the change in tempo, the audience couldn’t help but surrender to the hit as they sang along and began to move more freely.
Once more feeding into the patriotism of the Scottish crowd, Matt teased “I was supposed to remember a chant”. There was no doubt on what he meant and murmurs of “Here we, here we, here we f-cking go” soon turned into all out screams as the whole room got behind the band who knew what Scotland was all about.
The crowd only grew rowdier for the final track Silver Lining as they sang along to the feel-good hit with all their might.
An incredible night that gave everyone the Mt. Joy fix they needed. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait quite so long until this incredible band grace us Glaswegians again.