Review & setlist: At TD Garden, Mt. Joy reminds Boston what it means to be a band

Mt. Joy at TD Garden, Boston, Sept. 19, 2026.

For anyone trying to make the case that traditional bands are waning in mainstream popularity compared to solo artists, Boston’s largest shows of the year could help craft a compelling argument.

Vermont singer-songwriter Noah Kahan owned the summer, and superstars Charli XCX and Olivia Rodrigo are likely to do the same this fall. Bands are by no means a dying art, but there’s been an undeniable paradigm shift from decades past. That’s what makes a group like Mt. Joy so special.

What separates a great band from a great solo artist with a skilled backup band is that in the case of the former, the whole is always more than the sum of its parts. Mt. Joy brought that spirit to TD Garden on Saturday night as part of its 10th-anniversary world tour.

Right away, the group showed why each member is exactly where they need to be in its recipe for success. Keyboardist Jackie Miclau, arguably the most musically talented of the bunch, opened the show from the B-stage with a stunning and cascading piano intro before sprinting back to the main stage for the first song, “Dirty Love.”

Though Mt. Joy is based in Los Angeles and began in Philadelphia, the city of Boston had an essential role in its development. Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matt Quinn is a Northeastern University graduate, and it was during his college years that he wrote “Silver Lining,” the band’s most enduring hit.

“I somehow earned a diploma on this stage many, many years ago, and I did not think I’d be back here doing this,” Quinn joked. “I thought I’d be working a 9-to-5 and slamming my head against a cement wall.”

Despite the inevitable tension of a Philly band playing in the home of the Celtics, Quinn was more than grateful to be back. He called last year’s TD Garden show one of the band’s all-time favorites and seemed determined to match those expectations.

Lead guitarist Sam Cooper sported a Boston (the band) T-shirt. When one song was accompanied by background visuals displaying maps of famous cities, Boston was among them. Suffice it to say, the city received just as much love as it gave.

Saturday’s concert showed off just how much Mt. Joy has evolved in 10 years. The band took its tightly written and carefully performed songs and stretched them out into extended jams, testing the boundaries of the musical foundations they were working with.

All the while, each member had an opportunity to show off what they were individually capable of. Cooper and Miclau each had solos of their own, while drummer Sotiris Eliopoulos and bassist Michael Byrnes held it all together.

Complementing these performances were a thoughtful lighting rig and on-screen background displays. These visuals created a blissed-out atmosphere that worked just as well for covers of Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and Frank Ocean’s “Pink + White” as they did for the band’s originals.

Quinn’s relaxed, somewhat subdued stage presence helped contribute to the group’s image as a singular unit. Without the exuberant, raucous stage presence of a frontman like Julian Casablancas, his brief on-stage stories about the songs came across as him speaking on the whole band’s behalf.

The commentary about the songs helped emphasize the band’s range. Some of these descriptions served as comic relief, such as “getting broken up with in a Toyota Prius” (about “Bug Eyes”) and “being way too high in a restaurant” (“Julia”). Others served as poignant tributes, such as “I’m Your Wreck” for Quinn’s grandmother, and “Lucy” for anyone battling a difficult diagnosis.

Most essentially, Mt. Joy used its presence at TD Garden to push its social activism. The peak of this outspokenness came just before performing “Bang,” a seldom-played song written during the COVID-19 pandemic (“a time when the world was going to sh—,” as Quinn put it).

Quinn expressed that in many ways, things are still “not good” in the landscape of current events. In the wake of the recent Ed Sheeran-Macklemore controversy, Mt. Joy affirmed its commitment to “a free Palestine,” which was met with rapturous cheers and applause.

The band did all but refer to the two artists and Patriots owner Robert Kraft by name, but the message was clear. Quinn insisted that people shouldn’t live in fear for their lives, free speech shouldn’t be silenced, and the amount of money a person has shouldn’t change that.

Mt. Joy also took a clear stance against artificial intelligence being used to make art. One song was accompanied by on-screen messages such as “ART IS HUMAN” and “WE WON’T LET THE ROBOTS EAT US.”

Despite clear concerns about the state of the world, the overall mood returned to a celebratory close with “Silver Lining.” After the first chorus, confetti was launched over the audience’s heads, providing some spectacle to end the main set.

Back on the B-stage for the encore, Mt. Joy once again thanked the crowd, with Quinn citing the success of “Astrovan,” the band’s breakout single, as emblematic of the larger band-fan relationship.

“We found a way to just be goofy and be ourselves and not shoot for anything,” Quinn said. “The universe smiled upon us, and the goofiest song possible broke through for us.”

Returning to the differences between bands and solo artists, what helps Mt. Joy feel like a band lies just as much in its coherent messaging as its synchronous performances. Quinn had plenty to say Saturday night, but his parting message was perhaps the simplest and sweetest representation of the band’s ethos.

“Boston, be good to this beautiful city, and be good to each other,” Quinn said.

Setlist for Mt. Joy at TD Garden, Sept. 19, 2026

• Dirty Love
• Sheep
• Lemon Tree
• Orange Blood
• Let Loose (with snippet of Mary Jane’s Last Dance by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
• Coyote
• I’m Your Wreck
• Pink + White (Frank Ocean cover)
• Strangers
• Bug Eyes
• Bang
• Highway Queen
• Have You Ever Seen the Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
• Jenny Jenkins
• Mt. Joy (with snippet of Fire on the Mountain by the Grateful Dead)
• Pink Lady
• Lucy
• Julia (with snippets of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by the Flaming Lips and Crazy by Gnarls Barkley)
• Silver Lining

Encore