My Morning Jacket

Let's split this into two sections, as I did actually venture to see these guys on two occasions within a week (one being extremely uplifting and one being extremely disappointing). First stop was their show here in the Twin Cities at the Orpheum Theater on 10/2. I was super pumped to finally see these guys, as the 4 plus years I've been up in the cities, they have only come around once before and we made the decision to see Broken Social Scene that night at First Ave instead of MMJ at The Quest. It's still debatable as to if we made the right decision or not, as BSS was a pretty darn good show and the Quest was a shitty venue.

Let me just first say that the band lived up to their reputation as one of, if not the, premiere live act to see. Their set relied heavily on their new album Evil Urges (which unfortunately doesn't live up to their previous three efforts) but they certainly did not neglect choice selections from their previous four albums. Jim James was a showman on stage, as he had a lot of room to move around and took advantage of it. A couple times he shed the guitar and threw on a cape during a few songs off the new album. What also surprised me was how much I enjoyed "Highly Suspicious" from the new album. The song has a lot more to offer live as it does on album, as the guitar work was absolutely phenomenal and it was stunning how long JJ was able to hold the high note at the climax of the song. The lighting crew also did an amazing job, matching them up with the psychedelic vibes during "Off the Record" and "Wordless Chorus," and blasting the audience with a chaotic frenzy of different effects during the jam sessions in "Anytime" and "I'm Amazed." Ending the set with "Anytime" followed by "One Big Holiday" probably made new fans of anyone that wasn't before and certainly left everyone craving for more. My one regret was not hearing "Run Thru," probably my favorite song by the band, and dubbed one of the 100 greatest guitar rock songs of all time by Rolling Stone. Check out the pictures and the set list below and be jealous if you weren't there, as it was it was a show to behold.

Jim's silhouette breaking through the thick cloud of fog.

The purple and yellow lights gave an appropriate odd and psychedelic feel during one of their stranger songs "Highly Suspicious."

Video Clip of "Anytime."

At Dawn (At Dawn)
Golden (It Still Moves)
Sec Walkin’ (Evil Urges)
It Beats 4 U (Z)
Evil Urges (Evil Urges)
Touch Me I’m Going to Scream #1 (Evil Urges)
Off the Record (Z)
The Way That He Sings (It Still Moves)
I’m Amazed (Evil Urges)
Phone Went West (At Dawn)
Thank You Too! (Evil Urges)
Two Halves (Evil Urges)
Remnants (Evil Urges)
Gideon (Z)
Librarian (Evil Urges)
Steam Engine (It Still Moves)
Smokin’ From Shootin’ (Evil Urges)
Touch Me I’m Going to Scream #2 (Evil Urges)

ENCORES:
Nashville to Kentucky (Tennessee Fire)
Worldess Chorus (Z)
Highly Suspicious (Evil Urges)
Anytime (Z)
One Big Holiday (It Still Moves)

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The show was so good in fact, that Kally and I decided to drive 5 hours to Iowa City on the following Tuesday to see the band again. The show started off with just Jim James coming out and singing "Bermuda Highway," a lovely acoustic track from one of their earlier albums At Dawn. Following that the set was pretty similar to the Minneapolis show all the way through "Off the Record" when IT happened. Following the extended jam on the latter half of the song the all the lights went out signaling the end of the song. At that point, Jim took a step on the stage where there was no stage and took a tumble. Nobody really knew what happened except for the people that were on that side of the stage right up front. There was a lull and then the rest of the band left the stage. About 5 minutes later some dudes announces that Jim fell off the stage and that they were assessing his injury. Another 5 min later, the drummer comes out and tells us the same thing and that they promise to come back out and play if at all possible. Another 5 min later, the rest of the band, sans Jim James comes out, and we all knew what they were going to say before they even said it. Jim was too injured to play anymore and they had to take him to the hospital. The show was canceled. Our hearts were bumming. Everyone in the audience understood this was beyond their control and applauded. I was extremely impressed by all the understanding and good vibes. No way would the crowd react this way at a Rage show.

The following day I saw the entire set-list of what they were going to play and on it were the two songs I was super excited to hear that didn't get played in Minneapolis = "Run Thru" and "Dondonte." Hopefully they will reschedule and we will get another opportunity to see the Jacket again as they truly are something special. Check out the pictures I was able to get as well as the set-list of what was on the docket before JJ took a spill.

Jim performing "Bermuda Highway" solo.

Orange hazy lights rose from behind the band during "At Dawn." A wonderful touch.

We were just a few rows deep on the floor, as the show was general admission.

Bermuda Highway
At Dawn
Golden
It Beats 4 U
Evil Urges
Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 1
Off The Record <-------Jim falls at very end of song
----SHOW CANCELED----
Wonderful Man
I'm Amazed
Lowdown
I Will Sing You Songs
Sec Walkin
Two Halves
Laylow
Gideon
Librarian
Dondante
Smokin from Shootin
Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2

ENCORES:
Wordless Chorus
Highly Suspicious
Run Thru
Anytime
One Big Holiday