Houston Roll Call Verizon Wireless Theatre December 8th

[timandre22185]

I was at the Dallas show on Wednesday and I was pleasantly surprised.  For some reason, I was expecting the Dallas crowd to be pretty weak, which would bring down the show overall... Instead they played an amazing set (not quite up to Red Rocks), I got a nice little Reno show poster and COBRA...

Overall, extremely satisfied...

[e_wind]

you said it man. that dallas set list was possibly the best set of the year in North America.... behind Red Rocks that is!

[btb002]

I've lived in Houston ever since I was a teen, and only on a handful of occasions have I had a great experience at Houston shows. I don't know what it is about Houston's malaise when it comes to concerts. But I've definitely seen bands just outright not come to Texas. Pearl Jam, for example, hasn't hit Houston since 2003. I was told STP sold only about half of the sitting area at the Pavillion last summer. It's just not a great place for rock. My wife was thrilled because she got to sit down the whole time and watch My Morning Jacket. Radiohead was one of the few concerts I've been to where there was any type of electricity from the crowd. And it was all probably die hard fans that's traveled to see them.

That being said, I only get to see MMJ when they're in Houston, and the show was great in my eyes. Best American live band today.

[justink]

Dondonte was on the setlist before or after Gideon (can't remember), but was cut.

[justink]

also, the show specific posters never showed up to the venue.  merch table was expecting them, but i guess they just didn't get delivered in time.

[justink]

http://www.houstonpress.com/slideshow/my-morning-jacket-at-verizon-wireless-35724564/28/

setlist

[e_wind]

damn. we need to find out what the poster was. im sure the artist will be selling them

[Jackets N Pones]

Houston was a great time last night. Only 20 songs but there were several new "extended jams" to songs that did not have them before. I know Phone is always a burner but last night's version had to have gone 10-12 minutes, with some new riffs I have never heard before (not Jim's solo which I know always changes but the band as a whole were playing a new and different melody for a while before the final "There'll be a knock on your back door..."). So pumped we also got the Gideon "extended jam" that I heard for the first time during dgold's Tulsa U-Stream. Don't know how new that is but I thoroughly enjoyed it live. I am no expert on reviewing shows but it definitely felt like some versions of the songs were extended longer than they normally are even by live standards. Maybe the track times are available on the download to verify? Regardless, Wonderful (with new vocal solo at the end) > Freak Out > WAR BEGUN > OTR (No duck walk though >PHONE = Damn good time.


Soundcheck was pretty cool. Got to talk to Eric as he was taking photos for the soundcheck twitter pics he sends out. Old Sept. Blues and Picture of You were a nice surprise. Guys from Delta Spirit rehearsed with Patrick for the added percussion for Victory Dance, which did happen during the actual show, as well as Patrick joining Delta Spirit for WHITE TABLE during the opener.

One of the highlights of the night was during Wordless. Instead of going with the standard knee slide during the high first note of the vocal solo (I think he might have hurt himself a bit doing this during the Tulsa show), Jim flung his cape high in the air, and it landed directly on top of Patrick's mic above his drum kit, which caused the mic, cape, and kit to cave in on Patrick. As he was hidden and hunched underneath said kit, cape and mic, the dude did not skip a beat! Pun. Jim and the crew responded quickly and put everything back to normal (Patrick was ok). It will be interesting to listen to the taping or check any youtube of the song to hear if this altered the percussion at all. Anyway, Patrick is the man, and I just thought you forumites might like that story.

As far as the crowd goes, I was definitely nervous about the turnout going into the show, and IMO it was looking thin when Delta Spirit came on. However, at showtime the GA and all of the middle tier seats seemed filled. For Houston standards, I thought we brought it! Everyone around me was singing along and rocking out, and OTR was definitely a crowd favorite. Could have used a little bit more noise to bring them back out for the encore, but besides that I thought it was great. We had a couple first timers in our little group and they did not leave dissappointed. Also, we got to talk to Carl after the show and he said it was a great crowd, so that made me feel good about their chances of coming back. Bo told us Jazzfest is a possibility for next year as well!

Also got to talk to Tom at length about the recent iTunes session, MSG next week and Japan and Australia next year. I have only gotten to meet Jim during an MOF autograph session so it was most excellent to meet rest of the group. Jim made it on the bus quick which I understood, but Tom said everyone else was still inside so we knew we had a shot at meeting them as they got on the bus. As everybody on here knows, I cannot say how cool and friendly the guys were. Got to talk to Patrick about the above mentioned Wordless incident, and also congratulate him on the new little one. I was blown away at how outgoing and appreciative he was towards us for sticking around to say hello. Also, don't know if y'all have seen this but below is Patrick's tweet after the show. I think it sums up the night! Sorry for the lengthy post!!!!

@patrickhallahanPatrick Hallahan

Houston....Absolutely Incredible. One of my favorite shows on the tour!!!! Many, many thanks! http://pic.twitter.com/epb8Wq0O

[Jackets N Pones]

damn. we need to find out what the poster was. im sure the artist will be selling them

Yes please post any info you find on this!

[EasyRyder]

Bo told us Jazzfest is a possibility for next year as well!

AWESOME. I've been saying a daily novena/slaughtering calves for this to happen again ever since 2010, I can't tell you how glad I am to hear at least rumors! The two shows in NOLA last year were some of my favorites....thx for the info

PS Glad you had such a great experience last night!

[hizzo]

I've been trying to figure out what the deal is with the poster too. There definitely was one, but the merch lady told me they didn't make it to Houston in time and that I could "get it online." But I have no idea where online. Anyway I was a bit nervous about the Houston crowd but I had a GREAT fucking time. I was in the front and the crowd around us was mostly good. The band seemed to be feeding off the crowd too, so surprisingly the Houston crowd thing didn't seem to be an issue. I got a setlist and Dondante was on there but they didn't play it. Not sure why but I think they came out a little later than planned so maybe that had something to do with it.

I NEED THE HOUSTON POSTER!!!  :P

[mahg33ta]

thanks for the taper getting it up so quickly.   between the ustream and the 2 recordings, I heard all 3 MMJ shows this week.   Ahh, technology!

I agree that not all shows are facemelters and I was struck while listening to this show at work how front-loaded the new album was.   6 of the first 8 songs were off Circuital and I'm not sure I've seen that before.   War Begun sure was a treat but yes, in general, it seemed pretty straightforward and short at 20 songs.   I hope everyone's feeling ok.

For these last 2 live shows I've listened without seeing the setlist or track names, so it's been a lot of fun to "play along".  Requires me to download while looking through fingers over eyes, seeing while not really seeing kinda thing.    So maybe I was just hoping for more surprises.

Usually I go into MMJ blackout a week before a show I'm attending.  Instead I'm overdosing here!

Last thought - Bo is KILLING it these days.   The Cobra from the night before was really interesting.   His touches are all over these songs.   The Run Thru was a little different too.

[zanjam]

Bo told us Jazzfest is a possibility for next year as well!

AWESOME. I've been saying a daily novena/slaughtering calves for this to happen again ever since 2010, I can't tell you how glad I am to hear at least rumors! The two shows in NOLA last year were some of my favorites....thx for the info

PS Glad you had such a great experience last night!

My brother and I both said that if this happens next year we're packing up the fams and bringing the kids to their first MMJ show!  They were at HSMF this year, but asleep in the RV with the babysitter at showtime!  Crossing fingers that it happens!!

[EasyRyder]

Bo told us Jazzfest is a possibility for next year as well!

AWESOME. I've been saying a daily novena/slaughtering calves for this to happen again ever since 2010, I can't tell you how glad I am to hear at least rumors! The two shows in NOLA last year were some of my favorites....thx for the info

PS Glad you had such a great experience last night!

My brother and I both said that if this happens next year we're packing up the fams and bringing the kids to their first MMJ show!  They were at HSMF this year, but asleep in the RV with the babysitter at showtime!  Crossing fingers that it happens!!

You should! Definitely the most kid-friendly festival I've been too, and still it's one of my favorites (biased being from New Orleans, myself). MMJ put on quite the show last year, I'm bummed no recordings happened. Looks like we need a Jazz Fest 2012 thread  ;D

/resume previous thread/  ;)

[mahg33ta]

damn. we need to find out what the poster was. im sure the artist will be selling them

Yes please post any info you find on this!

LOVE ME SOME POSTER TALK

Randy Fung was the artist and yes, they never arrived to the venue in time due to a mailing error

[johnnYYac]

damn. we need to find out what the poster was. im sure the artist will be selling them

Yes please post any info you find on this!

LOVE ME SOME POSTER TALK

Randy Fung was the artist and yes, they never arrived to the venue in time due to a mailing error

Image blocked at work.  :(  My, that Randy Fung is a busy little beaver!  I can't keep up.  I was so pleased to have all of his MMJs except LA 10, then he did Europe and two of the past week's shows.  Woof.

[midwesterner]

Jazzfest is releasing their initial lineup on 12/14 so we might know soon.  Also is there anywhere online where that poster is being sold?

[e_wind]

thats a nice Fung. You may try emailing him, other wise I'd say they'll show up on the bands website

[Jackets N Pones]

Bo told us Jazzfest is a possibility for next year as well!

PS Glad you had such a great experience last night!

Thanks Easy! See you in New Orleans!

[e_wind]

man, i'll most likely be outa town for the jazz fest and the beale street thing. Jazz Fest is something that i really want to do at some point in my life.