Seattle Pre-show press

[NoVa_NoLa]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/298418_nightlife05.html?source=rss

Friday, January 5, 2007

My Morning Jacket moves up to the Moore, but still feels at home

By MIKEL TOOMBS
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

It's not as if My Morning Jacket is short of places to call home.

There's of course Louisville, their old Kentucky home, where the rockers recorded their first three albums on a farm belonging to a former guitarist's grandparents.

And then there's Manchester, Tenn., where another farm hosts the annual Bonnaroo Festival, the Woodstock of the jam-band generation. My Morning Jacket's appearance at Bonnaroo last year, when the band came on at midnight and announced it would play for more than three hours -- and then did -- is already the stuff of legend.

And don't forget San Francisco, a city well suited to the Jacket. The band closed out 2006 with three nights at the historic Fillmore Auditorium, also the setting for the current concert DVD, "Okonokos."

Still, when My Morning Jacket rocked The Showbox in November 2005, frontman Jim James called Seattle "our second home."

"We have lots of homes," My Morning Jacket drummer Patrick Hallahan said by phone from his residence in Louisville. "But there's something special in Seattle. We always plan one or two days off around Seattle, go out to Snoqualmie Falls. It's just such a great town."

The band has "played The Showbox so many times, those people are family. It's so great to feel such at home," Hallahan added. "I can go on and on about it: great restaurants, good walking. The Pacific Northwest is one of my favorite places in the world."

The Showbox, where My Morning Jacket first appeared as a support act in 2002, remains a special place for Hallahan. "I love that room," he said. "I remember going in there when we opened for Guided By Voices and I was like, 'It's enormous.' "

"Now we can't play there anymore. It's very strange. We've had a lot of that going on lately."

These are good times for My Morning Jacket, which moves up to the larger capacity Moore on Monday. (Elvis Perkins, the son of "Psycho" actor Anthony Perkins, will open the concert.) Once championed by the likes of Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, the band earned its burgeoning success through its epic live shows, showcased last year on a tour with Pearl Jam. "We are all fueled by music," James said in a 2004 interview, speaking by phone from the farm. "We love music. I think there are few things as exciting as music, and loving it and sharing it and talking about it with your friends,"

The quintet's concerts recall vintage Southern rock, or Neil Young-style guitar jams, but there's also more than a hint of twang. Meanwhile, James' vocals, usually enhanced by reverb, hint at classic soul and even the dreamy harmonies of the Beach Boys.

Add to that the rather obvious influences, ranging from The Who to the Replacements, found on the Jacket's current studio album, "Z." (It's the band's second CD on ATO Records, co-owned by occasional Wallingford resident Dave Matthews.) It's easy, then, to understand My Morning Jacket's broad appeal.

"We're blessed enough to have such a diverse audience participation," Hallahan said, "seeing 40- and 50-year-olds along with 16-year-olds. Nerds and jocks and hippies and preppies, indie-rock kids and punk-rock kids, they all seem to come out to the shows.

"I don't feel a particular exclusive allegiance to any of them. I think it's part of a greater musical collective."

[NoVa_NoLa]

D'oh!  I see that LaurieBlue has already got this posted in the Shows folder... :-[

[BH]

Don't even bother Nova Lova.  She will beat you every time.

[NoVa_NoLa]

Yeah, I've noticed she's pretty on the spot with the press clippings.  Though I think I edged her out on the other one.  ;)  :)

[Klarify]

Screw it, for someone without OCD, you do a pretty good job ;).

[colleen]

I'm glad you posted it because I hadn't seen the other one. That's so cool that they try to go to Snoqualmie Falls- probably at least in part to see the Twin Peaks sights. If you ever find yourself in that area, put on the Twin Peaks soundtrack, get some pie at the Double R (it's not called that but you know where pies go when they die), of course go to the falls and the Great Northern, and my favorite- the bridge where Ronnette Pulaski was found wandering near dead. It's in the middle of nowhere in case you want to reenact the scene barely dressed just like Ronnette. When I lived in Washington, I made the pilgrimage whenever possible and always found myself transported into another world. Sorry to digress.

[wheelhousetunes]

I can understand why they like Seattle so much. I've lived here all my life and in all my travels across the US, Kentucky has been my favorite place to visit. I think Washington and Kentucky have a lot in common.