thoughts, observations & reviews of The Beacon Shows

[oistheone]

To me, a definitive ranking of shows is impossible. Even with the most bitchin' setlist on paper, everyone's experience will vary greatly. I've found that it really doesn't matter what they play as much as where you are and who you're surrounded by.

Having said that -- these were the moments that blew me away:

[Full disclosure, I was only at night one and two and listened to three and four thanks to the very gracious soul who streamed]

I Love You All The Time -- is there a classier bunch of dudes than MMJ? Not only paying tribute with a moving moment of silence (which THANK GOD succeeded), but then OWNING the song!

Phone -- GOOD GOD! Best version I've seen, hands down. Never seen 'em add so many rockin' crescendos to the end of this song. Holy shit. Carl was going fuckin' nuts, pounding it like he was playing the world's most rockin' version of whack-a-mole. I've never seen him be so musically violent with his axe.

State of the Art!!! Works sooooo well as a Jacket tune, hope this one sticks around. THE POWER'S GOIN OUT!

Picture of You -- the jam ending NEEDS to stick around and be played WAY more often, it turns a soft number into one of the most powerful jams in the MMJ canon.

The triple-headed power punch ending of night two -- who could not leave the Beacon absolutely BUZZING after the BEASTLY PUNCH of AEIOU-Anytime-Mahgeetah?!

IWBTWYD -- complete silence during a JJ acoustic tune = complete bliss. You could hear the texture of his guitar strings it was so quiet in there. Transcendent.

All the Basement Tapes tracks. Down on The Bottom is a personal favorite but Nothing To It and Quick Like A Flash EXPLODE live!

CARRIED AWAY!! Anytime Carl gets extra space to rock, WATCH OUT! I swear Carl kept looking at Tom and Jim as if to say "I'm done soloing now" and Jim and Tom DEFIANTLY shook him off and sent him to new heights! Also, is there a better backup singer in the world than JJ?!

Just Because I Do!! Jim strummin' the chords leading up to the blast-off intro was the ultimate "buckle-up" moment.

TOUCH ME PT1 from night two -- Carl screaming I NEED A HUMAN RIGHT BY MY SIDE in my face while Jim prowled the stage like some sort of possessed cosmic wizard was INTENSE

TOUCH ME PT2->COBRA->RUN THRU from the final night. Only heard the audio from the latter but HOOOO MAMA I could feel the rock from 500 miles away. What a segue.

[dexter]

There were very few talkers night 4. The only jackasses were literally right behind me. 5 people jammed into 2 seats just non stop talking and partying and the annoying 45 year old drunk womqn with them. Go to a fucking bar and listen to some George thoroughgood on the jukebox and talk for 3 hours straight. I looked around the entire orchestra and aside from a few random people whispering a few words one to one, I had the misfortune of being near the worst jackasses in the place.  Everyone else in the venue seemed to be quiet and focused. I tried to not let it affect me, really tried for the first half of the show to tune them out but they ruined any slower song. Then I had to grapple with do I ask them to please be quiet and risk it's worse?  Finally I couldn't take it and asked them to be please speak quietly during the slow songs. The guy was understanding but his lady yells "what did he say? Really?!"  It worked for about one song, they actually tried, but then it just went back to annoying. Oh well, still really loved being there but it really sucks how clueless people can really negatively affect a show.

[LB]

There were very few talkers night 4. The only jackasses were literally right behind me. 5 people jammed into 2 seats just non stop talking and partying and the annoying 45 year old drunk womqn with them. Go to a fucking bar and listen to some George thoroughgood on the jukebox and talk for 3 hours straight. I looked around the entire orchestra and aside from a few random people whispering a few words one to one, I had the misfortune of being near the worst jackasses in the place.  Everyone else in the venue seemed to be quiet and focused. I tried to not let it affect me, really tried for the first half of the show to tune them out but they ruined any slower song. Then I had to grapple with do I ask them to please be quiet and risk it's worse?  Finally I couldn't take it and asked them to be please speak quietly during the slow songs. The guy was understanding but his lady yells "what did he say? Really?!"  It worked for about one song, they actually tried, but then it just went back to annoying. Oh well, still really loved being there but it really sucks how clueless people can really negatively affect a show.

That stinks, I hate it when that happens.

[ms. yvon]

Happy holidays everyone.  Thanks for sharing the love.

back atcha, jeff!

[dookie shoot bandit]

Here's to the guys getting a long, overdue vacation.
Hope they get energized and healthy and once ready get back into the studio to revisit and rework the "lost waterfall" tracks. I foresee this album not seeing the light of day until 2017, but we should see a Jim solo record, my guess sometime mid summer? And maybe a couple random appearances by the band, and possibly Jim touring behind his solo album next fall/winter.

But I do want to thank them for a great tour (as always!), and for bringing it every fucking night, and finishing off the year with a bang! Beacon run was amazingggggggg!!!! So glad I was able to pull off night 1 and 4. After seeing many different of the iconic shows (bonnaroo 2006, 2008, and all 3 Port Chester nights), these 2 will be put right up there!  Even if By My Car was left on the cutting room floor;)

Over all great energy by us the fans and the band!! Great week... Great year!!!
Here's to the future 

[bonzai]

I figured that I would at least get my post count up to one on here. Such an amazing run although I still can't decide if night 1 or 4 was my favorite! Also, so wonderful to meet so many more of this community over the week. Cheers and hopefully I'll see you guys again soon!

[headhunter]

I figured that I would at least get my post count up to one on here. Such an amazing run although I still can't decide if night 1 or 4 was my favorite! Also, so wonderful to meet so many more of this community over the week. Cheers and hopefully I'll see you guys again soon!

Hey Bonzai, it was awesome to see your smiling face every night at the beacon.  I agree with the indecision.  After night 1, I thought that was one of the greatest Jacket shows I had seen.  LOVED the energy of night 4 and the rocking set list but geez, the first hour of night 1 - WOW!

I too go back and forth.

Jeff

[Shug]

To me, a definitive ranking of shows is impossible. Even with the most bitchin' setlist on paper, everyone's experience will vary greatly. I've found that it really doesn't matter what they play as much as where you are and who you're surrounded by.

Having said that -- these were the moments that blew me away:

[Full disclosure, I was only at night one and two and listened to three and four thanks to the very gracious soul who streamed]

I Love You All The Time -- is there a classier bunch of dudes than MMJ? Not only paying tribute with a moving moment of silence (which THANK GOD succeeded), but then OWNING the song!

Phone -- GOOD GOD! Best version I've seen, hands down. Never seen 'em add so many rockin' crescendos to the end of this song. Holy shit. Carl was going fuckin' nuts, pounding it like he was playing the world's most rockin' version of whack-a-mole. I've never seen him be so musically violent with his axe.

State of the Art!!! Works sooooo well as a Jacket tune, hope this one sticks around. THE POWER'S GOIN OUT!

Picture of You -- the jam ending NEEDS to stick around and be played WAY more often, it turns a soft number into one of the most powerful jams in the MMJ canon.

The triple-headed power punch ending of night two -- who could not leave the Beacon absolutely BUZZING after the BEASTLY PUNCH of AEIOU-Anytime-Mahgeetah?!

IWBTWYD -- complete silence during a JJ acoustic tune = complete bliss. You could hear the texture of his guitar strings it was so quiet in there. Transcendent.

All the Basement Tapes tracks. Down on The Bottom is a personal favorite but Nothing To It and Quick Like A Flash EXPLODE live!

CARRIED AWAY!! Anytime Carl gets extra space to rock, WATCH OUT! I swear Carl kept looking at Tom and Jim as if to say "I'm done soloing now" and Jim and Tom DEFIANTLY shook him off and sent him to new heights! Also, is there a better backup singer in the world than JJ?!

Just Because I Do!! Jim strummin' the chords leading up to the blast-off intro was the ultimate "buckle-up" moment.

TOUCH ME PT1 from night two -- Carl screaming I NEED A HUMAN RIGHT BY MY SIDE in my face while Jim prowled the stage like some sort of possessed cosmic wizard was INTENSE

TOUCH ME PT2->COBRA->RUN THRU from the final night. Only heard the audio from the latter but HOOOO MAMA I could feel the rock from 500 miles away. What a segue.

Thanks for these detailed highlight recommendations, gives me stuff to listen for in the recordings and vids.  I appreciate it!

[dexter]

i cant pick a favorite..  but im obviously way in the minority leaning on night 3.  everything kinda lined up for me, could be a function of who i went with and where we sat and the people arround us..   but if i pick one as a favorite, whatever finsihed 4th is by the slimmest of margins..

[ericm]

i cant pick a favorite..  but im obviously way in the minority leaning on night 3.  everything kinda lined up for me, could be a function of who i went with and where we sat and the people arround us..   but if i pick one as a favorite, whatever finsihed 4th is by the slimmest of margins..

I can't pick a favorite either, and like you it's too close to call. It's like asking which one of my children I love more. I have loved one for a longer time though, so night 1 gets that same place in my heart. Night  4 is like my last born child, and who doesn't have just a special kind of love for their baby!   

[chimpat]

I was able to attend Night 1 and Night 4.  The energy of Night 4 was fantastic but man, Night 1's setlist was just incredible in my opinion.  "I Will Be There When You Die" is one of my favorite songs but at this point I wasn't sure I'd get the chance to hear it live.  Then throw in "Bermuda Highway", "Nashville to Kentucky", and "The Bear" all basically at the start of that show, just amazing.  "Dondante" was also phenomenal.

As for Night 4, favorites were "Death Is the Easy Way", "Smokin' From Shootin' (love this tune), "The Way That He Sings", "Steam Engine" (my favorite MMJ song) and basically the entire encore which was just off the charts.  "Run Thru" was probably the best version I've ever heard.

The moment of silence (which was probably like 10 seconds) for the victims of the Paris attacks was a really classy moment and I'm glad nobody yelled out, you could hear a pin drop which was just a very cool moment.  Thought they nailed the cover as well. 

I don't know how many bands could pull off a run like this, four nights with zero repeat songs. Incredible.  Such a great band, feel fortunate I could attend a couple of these shows.

[oistheone]

I want to thumbs up all these posts. What a run. Some more thoughts...

Re-watching the Phone videos, I am blown away by the textured soundscape they created. After Jim kinda flubs the "There'll be a knock on your back door" part and they start building up instrumentally, is that Carl doing some CRAZY loop shit, or Bo? Looks like Carl might be playing with a legit two-to-three second delay, or maybe it's just a synth. Either way, it's psychedelic as shit.

I also wonder if we might get a soundboard recording of their EODM cover pretty soon. As in the next couple of weeks. Josh Homme says that royalties from the sale of all covers will go to victims. Makes me think we might see this pop up on iTunes before the end of the year.

Either way, I am getting giddy at the thought of the officially released audio. Syncing it up with the plethora of quality YouTube videos will satiate my appetite for a video release!

[terry k]

Dexter , were your seats in the balcony?

[dexter]

Dexter , were your seats in the balcony?

No orchestra, right in the middle. At one point I did a 360 and could see a lot of the orchestra and saw no one going on like the people right behind me   

Really not trying to be down on the evening, it was amazing.

[Lynchie]

Only went to the last night of the Beacon run and while it was only my 9th time seeing them it was easily one of the best shows I've seen. They are so on top of their game right now makes me wish they were doing a New Year's run.

[terry k]

Just curious. We had 5 guys in the balcony doing the same thing. Interestingly there was a 45 year old woman who told them to be quiet 2 or 3 times. So did I. Finally I put my hand on one of their shoulders and said if you guys wanna have a fuckling coffee clutch there's a ladies room down stairs. They quieted down.

[jcc0065]

Just curious. We had 5 guys in the balcony doing the same thing. Interestingly there was a 45 year old woman who told them to be quiet 2 or 3 times. So did I. Finally I put my hand on one of their shoulders and said if you guys wanna have a fuckling coffee clutch there's a ladies room down stairs. They quieted down.

Ha! maybe my favorite quote ever on this forum. In ATL there was so much talking going on during what was probably the best, most monster of a Dondante this year (in my opinion). Gets on my last nerve

[jcc0065]

i understand talking to your friends during a show, everyone does that. its just the continuous nonstop chatters that came for a social outing instead of the music that make it terrible

[terry k]

You hate to cop an attitude at an MMJ show.It's so why you're not there. But why are these people there.

[Fully]

War Begun / I Will Sing You Songs - https://youtu.be/GmIt93hpOgo
First Light - https://youtu.be/dlaMmNSqnNg
Nothing To It - https://youtu.be/rqhAgr4zaX0
State of the Art - https://youtu.be/hsOMYUcotCw
Strangulation - https://youtu.be/tHH20sljPRg
Phone Went West - https://youtu.be/kB4t_6sTaL4
Mahgeetah - https://youtu.be/ddP_q9OqFsA
The Dark - https://youtu.be/5l6Tc5525eY

These are all wonderful. I feel like I'm there. Very well done by you and the band!