Fig & Mint

There exists today a plethora of bands that are capable of putting together well planned, performed, and produced albums, but then lack the ability to translate that energy onto the stage.  My Morning Jacket has never had that problem, long known as a band whose live performances contained both explosively powerful rock anthems as well as delicate front porch country balladry.  Having heard recent bootlegs, but not seen them perform live since last year's Austin City Limits Festival, a concert was in order and luckily last Saturday night they were at Nashville's Riverfront Park.

Jim James expressed the band's joy to be back in Nashville, the home of Carl Broemel (guitar/pedal steel/sax), which has become a second home for them.  Saturday night, they played like they were at home in the backyard, running the gamut from their earliest whiskey rock material through a nearly complete treatment of their most recent Evil Urges album (only "Aluminum Park" was excluded).  The band looked comfortable, playing with their backs to the Tennessee River with heavy stage fog setting the scene amongst a myriad of lights, shimmering off the water.  They delivered the first few songs ("Evil Urges," the psych-prog favorite "Off the Record" and triumphant "Gideon") at a slowed tempo that had the crowd swaying gently in the cool evening as the band eased into the show.  After alternating propulsive numbers ("Touch Me I'm Going To Scream (pt. I)" and "Magheeta") around At Dawn's "Low Down", Carl manned the pedal steel as the band took the crowd through a series of their lighter-than-air repetoire ("Thank You Too", "Golden", and "Sec Walkin").  Here, Broemel's pedal steel wafted gently into the air, hanging and mingling with James's confident crooning.  Fittingly, an old paddle boat, the Gen. Jackson, floated calmly by, melting into the night with the pedal steel as if from a Twain-inspired vision.

After picking up the tempo and volume  with another new number ("Two Halves") and breaking out a rare "How Do You Know" from 2002's Split, they launched into a series of songs that define why their live show is not to be missed.  Beginning with the trancelike "It Beats 4 U", they seemed to find a rhythm and dug in for a series of gut-busting rock tunes, featuring the first single from Evil Urges, "I'm Amazed", followed by the driving "Remnants" and the southern-rock-riff wonder "Lay Low."  To give everyone a break, James and co. set off on the thoughtful "I Will Sing You Songs" before slipping into the dark, brooding "Dondante" (which featured an incredible extended sax solo by Broemel).  From there, they built momentum with "Smoking From Shootin" before closing with an unrestrained and pulsating "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream (pt. II)" that saw James dancing around the stage like a madman, unleashing his trademark falsetto and repelte with a cape and, briefly, a towel over his head.  James thanked the crowd as they exited the stage, only to return moments later for a 9 song encore that left everyone floored. 

Beginning with the intimate, golden AM radio melody of "Librarian", they continued to expand the range of their performance.  After a heavy emphasis on the Evil Urges tracks, the band revisited its debut Tennessee Fire for the appropriate "Nashville to Kentucky" and a massive "War Begun" that featured a fantastic guitar relay from James and Broemel amidst fireworks exploding in the sky from the Titans football game just on the other side of the river.  An epic version of "Wordless Chorus" followed, with more fireworks lighting up the night in a surreal red glow (James told the audience the band spared no expense for these).  This sent the crowd into jubilant cheers that seemed to further energize the whole band as they raged on through a rockingly spooky version of "Highly Suspicious," during which James ran around the stage shreiking and howling like a deranged wizard-of-song, with flashing neon green-lit glasses and, once again, the cape.  One last time, they brought us back to reality with a chillingly beautiful "Phone Went West," with James sounding desperate as he plead "Tell me I'm right/tell me I'm wrong/tell me there's nobody else in the world."  They finally concluded the evening with a 3 song run that fed on the crowd's energy and culminated in raucous and bombastic renditions of It Still Moves piledrivers "Dancefloor" and "One Big Holiday" as well as Z's guitar hero duel "Anytime."

With a perfect evening and an in-form group of musicians, the only possible complaint was that sound left a little to be desired as the techs seemed to struggle to find a balance between the booming bass of "Two Tone" Tommy and the guitar and key high end, especially in the delicate numbers.  As a result it was hard to hear keyboardist Bo Koster for the majority of the show, and even the powerfully dueling guitars of James and Broemel were less a force in the mix than they should have been.  Even so, the hindrance was minimal, as MMJ put on a memorable performance that sent Nashville into a frenzy and helped further cement the quintet as one of the most exciting experimental rock groups on the planet...any beyond.

Download the entire show here and catch My Morning Jacket on tour in the States or abroad.  Also, enjoy this new video for "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream (pt. II)" and try not to think of Where The Wild Things Are.