Oliver Hazard & Mt. Joy at Beachland Ballroom

This past Thursday I went and saw Ohio local Oliver Hazard perform a show at Beachland Ballroom with Mt. Joy. The Cleveland venue was pretty full and the audience was thoroughly engaged.

Headliners Mt. Joy have some good songs on their new album "Mt. Joy". However, I thought that the sounds on the album did not translate to a live performance as well as I would have hoped. Their stage presence seemed somewhat stagnant to me, almost like they were just going through the motions for yet another show. That did not stop the near capacity crowd from singing along to all of their songs. My personal favorite songs of their performance were their single "Sheep" and a cover of "Ain't no Sunshine". I was waiting for their pianist, who was rocking out on a Nord Electro 5, to let loose and she finally did during a solo over "Ain't no Sunshine". Mt. Joy wasn't bad by any means, I just thought that they paled in comparison to their opener Oliver Hazard.

Oliver Hazard totally stole the show. The audience was screaming and cheering them on for their entire set. The trio from Waterville blew everyone away with their catchy songs and harmonies. Everything sounded just as it does on their album 34 N. River and they constantly switched things up on stage with instruments. In addition to those songs the band played a bunch of songs I had never heard before. It was a genuine performance and you could tell how much fun the guys were having on stage. Every time the crowd let out a roar you could see smiles break out across the faces of the band. The were living it up and having a blast and you could tell. It made the performance all the better. I could hear a buzz of people around me talking about the band once they finished their set. They definitely gained some new fans! Check out some of my photos from the show below!