HOB Cleveland

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http://www.freetimes.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2716

My Morning Jacket
House of Blues
Thursday, Oct. 20

Everyone's always eager to get their hands on their favorite band's new record, but in the live setting, all anyone ever wants to hear is the old songs. That was the dilemma facing My Morning Jacket on Thursday night. Their recently released record, Z, is full of good material, but it didn't seem like any of the crowd knew that — or at least chose not to acknowledge it. After MMJ opened with the first two tracks from Z, "Wordless Chorus" and "It Beats For You," the audience stood mostly silent as singer Jim James and his bandmates recast themselves as a Southern rock version of the Flaming Lips.  
The sense that My Morning Jacket would lean heavily on their new record hung in the air through both songs, until the cymbal clicks of "One Big Holiday" signaled a return to older material. Needless to say, the now-classic cut from their last record, It Still Moves, received rapturous applause, which carried on into "I Will Sing You Songs." The only real banter between James and the crowd occurred near the middle of the set, when James confessed that he's "not really good at talking to people." He sure can sing to them, though, as he proved time and time again throughout the night, especially during the uptempo ballad "Golden," which featured impeccable backing vocals from opener Kathleen Edwards. The supremely catchy tandem of "What a Wonderful Man" and "Off the Record" followed, along with "Lay Low." The evening's highlight came during the encore, however. The audience was more than ready to sing along with James to the band's trademark song, "Mahgeetah." Appropriately enough, My Morning Jacket offset their most obvious hit with a track from Z, "Anytime," closing a show that found them striking a perfect balance between new and old material.
Edwards and her band's half-hour opening set provided an excellent sonic complement to the headliner. The Canadian singer-songwriter did anything but tread on familiarly worn territory as she guided her band through a set of American roots rock, highlighted by the title track from her most recent record, Back to Me.

— Jeremy Willets