Live music review: My Morning Jacket Delivers One Big Holiday to Moody Amphitheater
Some artists prefer to live in the studio where they can carefully craft their sound in search of the perfect recording rather than slog through the drudgery of live touring. My Morning Jacket embrace the road. MMJ have cut their teeth touring for the past two decades. As of May 2, they’ve played over 1,000 shows, solidifying them as one of the most prolific live music acts on the planet.
We get accustomed to an artist playing for an hour, taking a break, and coming out one last time for a quick encore. Where most artists deliver the runtime of a long HBO episode, a My Morning Jacket set is an epic Peter Jackson film. On April 29 in Austin, the band played a two-hour, 45 minute marathon, with nearly as many songs (22) as years they have been together (24). In other words, it was your typical, kick-ass MMJ set.
Ardent fans arrived early to get the best standing room in the small GA section at the front of the stage behind the photography pit. While I got a peek at the set list before the show, most of the faithful fans at the front shuddered at the thought of ruining the surprise with this forbidden knowledge.
Lead man, Jim James kicked off the show with a Prince impression accompanied by high-pitched “whooops” and “wheees” in “Wordless Chorus.” James’ vocal range frequently shifts from a folksy delivery a la Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes to an R&B falsetto. James is known for his love of The Muppets. It makes more sense when you see most of the band resembles a crossover between the Muppet characters, Animal and Sweetums.
Compared to intimate Austin venues like Mohawk, the spacious Moody Amphitheater can seem a bit of a distant experience. But if MMJ was delivering a musical sermon, the congregation stayed in attendance until the very end. I proudly told a man next to me this was the eighth time seeing MMJ live. “Oh that’s great,” he said. “I’ve lost count, but this is definitely in the upper 30’s for me.” It’s safe to assume he wasn’t the only one there with such a high MMJ show count.
After a long hiatus, the band’s future was uncertain. But their ninth studio album, self-titled from 2021, provides some of their best live material since 2005’s Z. The 9-minute version of ‘In Colour’ the band presented mid-way through the performance, nodded to Pink Floyd with Roger Waters-era guitar bends and bluesy, psychedelic tendencies. You could tell James and the band are proud of their new tune.
Meanwhile, George Strait and Willie Nelson played across the street, christening Austin’s new Moody Center arena on the University of Texas campus. James honored Nelson by covering his song, “Funny How Time Slips Away.” The selection was appropriate, as Nelson recently celebrated his 89th birthday last week.
My Morning Jacket’s expansive set list is an exercise in musical range. They pivoted from rootsy, foot-stompin’ rock with ‘I’m Amazed’ to the ethereal ‘I Will Sing You Songs’ that boasts a 57 BPM, that served as a respite from the onslaught of heavy guitar riffs. ‘Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt 2’, a crowd favorite, stood out with Patrick Hallahan’s drumming ebbing and flowing from constant grooves to disco beats to pounding away at his hi-hat.
Most of the group’s outros or codas stretched into extended jams. It’s less of a Phish style noodling and more of a 70’s indulgent rock odyssey. Lots of “jam bands” meander for 10+ minutes, letting everyone improvise to their liking. My Morning Jacket always has a destination in mind.
They closed the night with ‘One Big Holiday’, one of the most epic, headbanging, rock anthems of the 2000’s. The song is clearly their most accessible, earning a ton of mainstream radio play. Carl Broemel’s guitar strap fell off during his guitar solo, but it didn’t impede the guitarist in the slightest. He casually lifted the neck up to the sky and squatted during a solo full of huge string bends and flashy hammer-ons.
The two guitars, bass and keyboard setup can seem like an exhausted formula after decades of use. That makes it all the more stunning that MMJ can reach such artistic heights after over two decades of playing together. It’s really their inter-connectivity that glows on stage.
Throughout the show, every band member took turns smiling from ear to ear, gyrating to their grooves, and frequently, briefly levitating as their feet would leave the ground for a jump. MMJ live for this shared experience of live music with the audience. So do their fans.
If you like My Morning Jacket, check out: Brittany Howard, Wilco, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, M Ward, Dr. Dog, Flaming Lips. View the complete set list here.
All photos by Drew Doggett
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