My Morning Jacket

Tuesday night I saw My Morning Jacket at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe. A few years ago when their album It Still Moves came out I was an instant fan. Jim James has such an amazing and unique voice. Of course some of that is because of the vocal effects and album production, but the airy/ethereal/spacey quality of his voice makes for a pretty distinguished sound. At the time I couldn't get enough of the album. When their latest album was released this year I was ready for something even better than the last, but was so turned off by the sound I barely gave it a few listens before I decided they were a one-album wonder for me.

But, despite my disappointment I still wanted to check them out when they came to town in hopes that they'd play lots of the older stuff. I wasn't expecting much, except maybe to get my live music fix, so I was totally surprised at how great the show was. Not only did they play some of the old songs I love, but the new songs totally took on a different sound. They didn't seem cheesy anymore, they were fantastic. MMJ played for about an hour and a half and played a good mix of old and new stuff. The sound was spot-on and captured his voice perfectly. Several of the songs extended into long jam sessions, which under normal circumstances I'm usually not a fan of, but in this case I absolutely loved, especially Dondante with the saxophone solo at the end. Seeing the new songs performed live totally got me into the new album, and now I can't get enough of it. I'd recommend you definitely check it out, and check out the band if they come to town. I know the album can be a bit tough to get through the first few times, but stick with it, it's excellent!

The setlist:

1- Wordless Chorus
2- It Beats for You
3- One Big Holiday
4- What a Wonderful Man
5- Off the Record
6- Golden
7- Sooner
8- Gideon
9- Lay Low
10- Dondante
11- Runthru
-encore-
12- Bermuda Highway
13- At Dawn
14- Anytime
15- Mahgeeta

to do #263: see My Morning Jacket