By Katie Fugett
Unlike the 2019 Philadelphia Music & Arts Festival, which boasted 3 independent music venues and thousands of cheering fans, the 2020 Philly Music Fest was smaller and more intimate — a result of the new normal for concerts and music festivals during COVID-19. Headlining band Mt. Joy’s performance was a prime example of this intimacy. The indie-rock band managed to maintain the level of energy and passion I’ve come to expect from its live performances, despite the lack of an in-person audience. Although I still don’t enjoy live streams as an alternative to live concerts, I enjoyed how Mt. Joy’s crowdless live stream felt like a personal live show in my bedroom.
The music festival was streamed online Sept. 24-25, live from Ardmore Music Hall in Philadelphia. The festival is still available to stream for free on YouTube. I watched Mt. Joy’s hour-long set (2:02:30-3:03:44) alone from my apartment — although, “watched” may be an overstatement. I watched parts of it, but for some parts of the set I let the music play in the background as I did other things, as I normally do with music.
It was difficult for me to keep my attention on the video since the visual shots were just of the band on stage. Without the social element of a live crowd, the live stream did not feel like being at a concert. It felt more like listening to live recordings of the songs, without the chorus of fans screaming and singing along.
The first song I ever heard by Mt. Joy was their crowd favorite, “Sheep,” which has nearly 40 million streams on Spotify. The band wrote “Sheep” while watching the Baltimore riots in 2015 after the police killing of Freddie Gray. According to a 2017 interview with PennLive, the song is about “a call for change and an end to blind hatred” and “stepping up and taking action.” Before Mt. Joy performed this song during their 2020 Philly Music Fest set, lead singer Matt Quinn said the message of “Sheep” is more important now than ever, and he urged all listeners to vote in the upcoming election.
My favorite song by Mt. Joy is “Silver Lining,” which is about how life can be difficult sometimes, but it’s worth living, and you need to “let the music play through the pain.” Music has always been an emotional outlet for me, and “Silver Lining” was a song I quickly identified with and have held onto for years. Between its raw lyrics and driving instrumentals, Mt. Joy’s live performance of this song was everything I expected it to be. The band’s intensity was evident in the way band members moved when they played — how they communicated with each other wordlessly on stage and the way they closed their eyes and lost themselves in the music. Seeing their live streamed performance brought a wave of nostalgia over me — nostalgia for the time before the pandemic when we could all go out to live concerts without worry, and also for the times in my life when Mt. Joy’s music has impacted me.
I saw Mt. Joy perform live in Atlanta for a sold-out crowd in 2019. Despite the lack of a crowd at the Philly Music Fest — only members of the streaming crew were in the music hall to applaud after each song — the band’s energy didn’t feel any different than when I had seen them perform in person. This may be due to the chill, easy-going nature of their music, but I think it’s also a credit to the real emotion and love the band has for its music that just can’t be hindered by the lack of a live audience.
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