Seattle Reviews

[LaurieBlue]

http://chogunn.blogspot.com/2007/01/my-morning-jacket-concert.html

[LaurieBlue]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/musicnightlife/2003516834_mymorning10.html

Concert Review
My Morning Jacket's eclectic musical mix does not disappoint

By Mary Guiden
Special to The Seattle Times

A sold-out crowd enthusiastically ate up everything that the hard-to-typecast band known as My Morning Jacket doled out during a two-hour set Monday night at the Moore Theatre. And "everything" means around 20 tunes that encompass Southern rock, country ballads, "Hawaii Five-0" licks, R&B, falsetto vocals and hard-pounding guitars.

It was a scene even music lovers who aren't fans of the jam-band style of playing (including me) could sincerely enjoy for the spectacle of lights, masterful musicianship, frequently infectious tracks and the wide-ranging vocals and energy of lead singer Jim James.

MMJ — which played to a mostly older 20- and 30-something crowd — is known for its innovative style, marked by James' falsetto and an occasional metal-style shriek (complete with heavy-metal head-banger moves). The band's musical delivery is also replete with echo and reverb, effects that make it challenging to discern song lyrics unless you're a hard-core fan.

Sporting almost shoulder-length curly locks that occasionally covered his face, James wore space-age boots that he could have created at home with horizontal stripes of masking tape, brown pants, a red shirt, a vest and a dark jacket that he sometimes used as a prop.

The setting included a forest of barren trees (associated with the band's recent live release "Okonokos"), detailed lighting (including strobes) and an occasional foggy mist that together provided a psychedelic experience for the audience.

Opening act Elvis Perkins in Dearland (Perkins is son of "Psycho" actor Anthony Perkins) wowed the crowd with 45 minutes of engaging folk-rock and catchy tunes accentuated at times by a slide trombone, harmonica, keys and a marching-band drum.

Seattle's Lori Tanzen, 36, said she's drawn to MMJ's music for its unconventional sound. "They're not mainstream and they're not freaky eccentric, but they've got a really great vibe ... and it's not ear-bursting," she said.

Review

Monday night at the Moore Theatre
Highlights of the night included the radio-friendly "Off the Record," "What a Wonderful Man" and, at the close of the 30-minute encore, "Anytime" (all tracks from "Z"). "Mahgeetah" from "It Still Moves" also spurred a frenzy of dancing fools during the encore. At the end of the night, following an explosion of lights, band members politely waved and sported big smiles as they strode off the stage.

[LaurieBlue]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/298987_morning10q.html

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

My Morning Jacket warms a rocker's heart
Wednesday, January 10, 2007

By MIKEL TOOMBS
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

"Play to the gods," a fan implored perplexed Elvis Perkins, the quirky opener Monday night at the Moore.

Perkins' diverting art-folk couldn't fill the bill, but the rock gods surely smiled down upon headliner My Morning Jacket.

The Kentucky quintet turned in a majestic, two-hour set, full of thunder and an arena-ready light show. The band conducted "School of Rock" tutorials -- manic drummer Patrick Hallahan amusingly recalled Animal of the Muppets -- and, on "One Big Holiday," took U2 dynamics over the edge.

My Morning Jacket showed that the studio versions of the songs on "Z," its acclaimed 2005 CD, weren't the last word in its music. Here, the band added to "Off the Record," an insanely catchy song with a witty guitar riff on "Secret Agent Man," and rocked out the "Who's Next"-inflected "Gideon."

Often hailed as the new force in Southern rock, the group proved its model wasn't Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Allman Brothers, but The Band, the mostly Canadian "Southern" outfit that incorporated soul, R&B and country. (My Morning Jacket went even further south for a reggae version of "Phone Went West,")

Carl Broemel's pedal-steel guitar drove the exquisite "Golden," with singer Jim James providing his own Beach Boys-style harmony thanks to a typical use of reverb. ("Reverb is the thing that turns mere mortals into gods," James once told the London Observer.)

James had many soulful moments, during which he donned a jacket or, at one point, put it on top of his head. James casually tossed the jacket over his shoulder as he crooned "They Ran," although perhaps he compromised the Frank Sinatra effect with his outlandish dinosaur-rock boots.

James, whose carefully composed hair almost survived the first song, also combined with Broemel for plenty of guitar heroics. The pair played to the gods -- or at least the second balcony -- on such epic rockers as "Run Thru" and "Mahgeeta."

Opener Perkins and his band, Dearland, instead served up trombone, harmonium and birdcall heroics. Perkins' often-surreal lyrics held a certain charm, and the overall effect sometimes suggested the Decemberists performing from the Leonard Cohen songbook.


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Mikel Toombs is a Seattle writer. He can be reached at mikeltoombs@gmail.com.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.soundonthesound.com

[megisnotreal]

("Reverb is the thing that turns mere mortals into gods," James once told the London Observer.)

nice.