John Callahan
After a record short set change, out came Jim James with his acoustic guitar strapped and ready. He serenaded the audience with At Dawn from 2006’s Okonokos. The rest of the band joined in by the end and the party was on. Guitarist Carl Broemel started out on pedal slide guitar and kept the first few tunes more true to the band’s Kentucky roots.
By the third song (It Beats 4 U) it was all electric guitars and rampant badassery on stage. Jim James was all over the place, shaking his curls and high fiving the front two rows. Two tone Tommy and Patrick Hallihan held down the rhythm section while Bo Koster, looking suspiciously K-Fed like in his half shave and Sinatra fedora kept the psychedelic mantle intact for the whole tow hour, forty five minute MMJ love fest. And make no mistake; it was truly a love fest of Stumptown proportions.
The audience was full of truly die hard fans. To my left, Jeremy, Ray and Melinda had spent two and a half hours driving here from Hermiston. To my right, Amy and Yvonne, locals with tickets for the following evening in Seattle sang along to every song like the MMJ tour veterans they alleged to be. There was even another uberfan-turned-idiot who bit the head off a green glow stick and showered those of us in his vicinity with pasty, iridescent and smelly paint that, I must admit, added a certain charm to the overall effect that the music had on this starlit night.
The band blistered through song after song, most blending one to the other. One such segue worked in amazing fashion; Lay Low into the epic Magheetah and followed quickly by an all out fun rendition of Sec Walkin. Next, cue the tongue-in-cheek Librarian with its sixties pop paean to the clichéd bespectacled bookkeeper to let down her hair and par-tay!
This then brings me to my personal musical highlight of the evening. MMJ snuck in Dondante, which starts out slow, melodic. Then Jim James brings in the band’s sixth instrument, his magnificent set of pipes. Although strong all night, this man’s voice shone here. I’d put the extended note solo he sang Saturday night right up against Doris Troy’s glass shattering aria in Floyd’s The Great Gig In The Sky as far as down right badass rock and roll scat ala Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme in their day. The way the band treated this song was like a musical rollercoaster ride, and the audience followed along in kind, both hands raised in the air and screaming like their very lives hung in the balance and just as suddenly lowered down to earth where James’ guitar finger picking was literally the only sound heard in the venue. Each member of the band got an extended riff to call their own and each showed off their chops with class and craftsmanship. Special nod of the fedora to Two Tone Tommy on bass here. His double pumping throughout the song held the chaos together. Dondante has become my new favorite song. Nuff said.
The encore achieved the same effect. After ending the main set with the two part Touch Me I’m Gong To Scream MMJ hopped right back into boogie mode with Cobra. They then literally smoked their way through another favorite, Wordless Chorus.
The last concert of the season at Edgefield concluded with a very infectious, groove riddled Highly Suspicious from their latest release, Evil Urges. This song also belies the band’s southern roots as it sinews between synth house, metal and blues and delivered the most amazing crescendo ending that, after two and a half hours, the audience couldn’t have asked for more. They ended what James had called “…an electrifying evening with an electrified audience” on a great high note.
Exiting the lawn, I heard the same sentiment in all the lines: the ‘I’m sticking around to beat traffic and have another beer’ line, the ‘that was so amazing I have to buy the t-shirt’ line, the ‘. . . I better hit the can before we get in traffic’ line: This audience was in awe of how this band led them through the trip that is a My Morning Jacket concert and they had come out the other end witnesses to yet another once in a lifetime musical event. Like I said, a giant MMJ love fest. Live music magic.
Rock On Through The Magical Fog
A.J. Crandall
Setlist:
4 Responses
Great review, thanks. It was a perfect Oregon September evening and MMJ destroyed it. Everybody from tour vets to friends just along for the ride without knowing anything by MMJ had a blast. Best MMJ I’ve seen, the two part Touch Me back to back was epic!
Excellent review, AJ. That was one of the best rock shows I’ve seen in a LONG time, and a perfect first MMJ show. I couldn’t have asked for a better setlist than that! Won’t miss them again when they return.
Another unforgettable time with some “rampant badassery” tossed in for good measure. You slay me dude.
Wonderful review to match a fantastic show. I just wanted to correct an odd mistake: John Callahan’s 2006 Release is not called “The Liberator.” The title is “Purple Winos In The Rain.”