Despite one of the hottest weeks in May on record, John Darnielle brought his band of Mountain Goats to Boston’s House of Blues to turn the dial up even further. Longtime members Jon Wurster and Matt Douglas joined Darnielle on stage along with newcomer Cameron Ralston on bass, a recent addition to after Peter Hughes’ departure in 2024. 

The songs from their 2025 album Through this Fire Across From Peter Balkan added some additional quirk and depth to a setlist that consisted otherwise of the band’s well-worn classics. “Armies of the Lord” fed nicely into “Harlem Roulette”, and new single “Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds” felt right at home alongside “The Diaz Brothers”. A musical concept album about a shipwreck, one could call Through this Fire an attempt to push the literary allusions for which Mountain Goats have become known to its limit, but the heart of the project lies in its ability to create emotional safety for fans. Darnielle’s darkly humorous and viscerally earnest lyrics remain the star.

Check out Wendy’s photos from the show below