[ATTENDED: July 25, 2015] My Morning Jacket
I had made a list of bands that I really wanted to see. My Morning Jacket was pretty near the top of it. My friend Jay and I marveled over singer Jim James’ use of a cape (which sadly he did not wear at this show). Of course, it wasn’t just the cape we wanted to see, it was the whole band.
So when they were announced to headline the XPNFest, I knew I had to get tickets (the fact that St. Vincent was co-headlining was a huge bonus).
While the crowd was good for St. Vincent, they were ecstatic for MMJ. Everyone was on their feet the whole show. And what a show. The band played for 2 and a half hours, running through much of their new album as well as classics from their past few records.
I had heard that MMJ were a big time jam band, and indeed they were. In fact, even though Neil Young did some amazing jamming and soloing during his recent set, this was the first real “jam band” show I’ve been to. Where the band takes a song in different directions, wending through different moods and styles like the 20 minute “Deodato”–more on that later.
In fact, each song was extended by some impressive soloing. Interestingly, Jim James took a number of solos that were just himself on stage. And I felt like his solos weren’t really that impressive. There was a bluesy one that was very cool and one or two others that were more textural than “impressive.” It’s clear that lead guitarist Carl Broemel can solo amazingly, but he didn’t get any features, just wailing solos during the songs.
I was pretty excited that they started with “Off the Record” which had some pretty impressive jamming in the middle. Jim James was wearing an awesome jacket with neon stripes all over it and a pair of sunglasses that he never removed. It was 90 degrees out that day. How did he stand it? (more…)
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