Mutemath & Colony House @ The Fillmore

WRITTEN BY : MONICA MELLON

Mutemath played a mind-blowing, emotional set on Tuesday night at The Fillmore for the “Play Dead Live” tour. The band opened with a few songs from their newest album, “Play Dead,” including, “War” and “Stroll On.” The show continued with new songs, as well as older songs, such as “Vitals” from 2015, and “Stall Out” from 2006.

This was my first Mutemath show and I was blown away by their incredible performance. The energy that was put into each song was inspiring and kept every member of the crowd dancing, jumping and singing the entire time.

While Mutemath’s show was extraordinary, I mainly attended the show for one of the opening bands, Colony House. From Nashville, Tennessee, the band spent the summer playing festivals across the country and helped Mutemath kick off their tour only a few days before the Philly show.

Both of Colony House’s albums have the power to evoke real emotions from everyone. Their first album “When I Was Younger” hits a lot of the feelings of being away from loved ones and the struggles that come along with being on tour. “Only the Lonely” tackles deeper mental and more relatable emotions, including fighting with a loved one or feeling completely alone in the world.

The band played nine songs, including hits from both of their albums and a new song, “Lights On.” The energy and passion was radiating through the crowd, even though most of the crowd members may have never heard of Colony House before. One of the more relatable songs from “Only the Lonely,” “Lonely,” touched on the feeling of being alone in the world and being misunderstood. The reality of the song was deep and could resonate with the entire crowd.

The band played a perfect blend of songs from both of their albums and each song kept the crowd clapping and jumping along.

While the rest of the band took a quick break, front man Caleb Chapman took the time to tell the story of one of the last songs on the band’s first album, “Moving Forward.” His brother and Colony House drummer, Will Chapman, felt the album was almost incomplete without this song. The song was performed acoustically and was more beautiful than ever.

Colony House closed with “You Know It” from their second album. The song was lively and almost seemed like a promise that the band would be back in Philly for a tour “before [we] know it.”

After the show, while the band was cleaning up from their set, I caught Will’s attention and he so graciously handed me one of the setlists. (Yes, I’m still fangirling.)

The paired tour of Colony House and Mutemath worked well, as the energy and sounds of the bands were able to connect and keep vibes alive in the audience.