October 3, 2025 – The Mountain Goats, the indie-folk band formed by singer-songwriter John Darnielle, brought their sold-out tour to Ardmore Music Hall. The trio, featuring Darnielle on vocals, guitar, and keyboards, Jon Wurster on drums, and Matt Douglas on keyboards, saxophone, and bass guitar, played to a packed house that hung on every word.
Photos + Article by Steve Cerf ( @SteveCerf )
This was the first time I saw The Mountain Goats, and I was immediately hooked. John Darnielle lyrics are twisting tales of hopelessness and optimism, stories that live somewhere between defeat and survival. When it comes to performing, he makes it about the audience. The more he gives, the more he is able to take away. The audience was spellbound by Darnielle’s delivery as each song flowed seamlessly into the next. The band was exceptionally tight throughout the night, moving as one.
They opened with “New Britain”, a song about trying to reach someone slipping away, two people talking past each other in the noise. “Water Tower” followed, rooted in Jenny’s world of consequence and escape. “Bones Don’t Rust” explored endurance and decay, finding strength in the ruins
Midway through the set came a moment fans had been waiting for, “Broken to Begin With”, from the forthcoming album Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan, due out November 7 and now available for pre-order. It’s a song about entering life already fractured, a quiet admission that the cracks were always there.
“Moon Over Goldsboro” and “New Zion” brought a change of pace, songs of longing, distance, and hope. The crowd erupted for “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton,” shouting “Hail Satan” in unison.
As the band left the stage, Darnielle stayed behind for a short solo set, performing “Ghosts,” “From TG&Y,” and “Chanson du Bon Chose.” The stripped-down moment showed why Darnielle remains one of music’s most compelling storytellers. Between songs, he led the audience through side stories and reflections that felt like part of the show itself.
When the band returned, it was song after song, “Werewolf Gimmick,” “Great Pirates,” “The Young Thousands,” “Corsican Mastiff Stride,” “You or Your Memory,” and “Sax Rohmer #1.” The main set closed with the fan favorite “This Year,” Darnielle’s defiant vow to make it through whatever life throws at him.
The encore opened with “Let Me Bathe in Demonic Light,” followed by “Lion’s Teeth,” “Waylon Jennings Live!,” “The Diaz Brothers,” and “Jazz No Children,” where Darnielle added a semi-improvised divorce poem before launching into “No Children.” It’s a song about a couple involved in a tumultuous divorce, locked in mutual destruction.
The show closed the same way it began with Darnielle at the center, the storyteller holding the crowd in his hand. After more than two decades of albums and relentless touring, The Mountain Goats remain one of the most consistent and honest live bands around. And if “Broken to Begin With” is any indication, the upcoming Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan finds Darnielle still searching for beauty in the cracks.
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