9.21.08 Greek Theatre, Los Angeles!

[ms. yvon]

today was the last day of summer.  in southern california it's more of a calendar formality than a weather shift, but i love thinking about summer winding down and nights getting longer.

a PERFECT night for a show at the greek.

the stage isn't very high here, so one's view of the stage isn't blocked by wedges and monitors.  this was the first time i'd gotten to really watch EVERYONE all night in a long time. also had a rare "patrick not blocked by all his cymbals" spot.   ;D man, i love the greek.  bonus:  was craving a cappuccino when i got in the door, went straight to the coffee kiosk, the guy working inside recognized me from another cafe where he works.  small world, sometimes.  ;)

setlist:
*full disclosure:  "wonderful man" was played but i didn't write it down.  i can't remember when they played it.  if anyone has it, please add it in.--got it from jacketgirl!**

-evil urges
-touch me pt. 1
-otr--noticed here that patrick's snare wasn't part of that gorgeous set.  on friday in berkeley i saw one of the techs bring him a new drum and take one away, but don't  know why he replaced it.

-anytime
-i'm amazed
-way he sings

-two halves
-thank you, too
-sec walkin

-i will sing you songs (!!!!!! :D )--with a terrific arrangement of the ending.
-wonderful man **thanks, jacketgirl!  i can see now how i missed writing this down.   ;D
-mahgeeta
-lay low

-phone went west
-gideon
-dondante--with the amazing arrangement we heard in berkekley

-librarian
-smoking from shootin
-touch me pt 2.--as jim played the omnichord outro i could see carl and tom crouched low, ready to zip off stage at the end.  i do love that we never really know when the end will come.  anticipation!

----------
2nd set:
-golden
**from here until the end of the show it was
relentless.  
rampant.
badassery.  
from end to end on that stage.  i looked at each of the musicians at any given time and they were just tearing it up!
-wordless--it was a multiple knee slide night for jim--the second one during this song landed him right at carl's feet. awesome.
-highly suspicious
-run thru--bo's hat slipped down over his eyes for a good portion of this song.   ;D
-obh

a couple of songs were dropped from the setlist-thanks for the info jacketgirl!:  where to begin, and cobra.  so sad to see them on the list, but what'reyougonnado?  the started playing after 7:30.  the l.a. crowd arriving fashionably late in order to not see an opening band.  ::)

as the band was walking off stage some douchebag through a beer cup that hit tt.  jesus. where do these people come from?

HUGE SHOW!  TERRIFIC SHOW!  lots of hollering, foot stomping, hands in the air antics tonight.  ;D  
tomorrow when i'm at work i'll try to embellish with a few notes.  for now, i'm going to finish this last slice of toast and hit the hay.

for the record:  i had a great fucking weekend!  to everyone who was part of it:  [smiley=beer.gif] xo!

[getinthevan]

I'm glad to hear that the Greek shows were a huge success.  Not that I had any doubt about them.  I hadn't realized that today was the first day of fall.  What a way to end the summer!  Glad you, and everyone, had such a good time at these shows.

[TheBigChicken]

nice....

[NoVa_NoLa]

I got a text around 3 in the morning (EST) from a guy that I was dating around the same time that I was really falling for MMJ (no wonder that relationship didn't work out  ;D).  He lives in Cali now and last night was his first show.  His text:

"Wow.
Wow.
Once again...Wow!"

[BH]

Thanks Ms. Y!  I was starting to wonder if anyone on the board was even going to be at this show!

(Who would throw a beer cup at the band.  WTF?  Get a life.  God help me if I saw someone hit MMJ with something.  I would probably end up getting my ass kicked and/or arrested.)

[elzar]

great face melting show! i was 2nd row right in back of pit - seemed like there were more than a few who had never heard MMJ before, especially the old couple next to us, the old man was sleeping!

I saw the beer throwing guy - i almost threw the rest of my beer at him - from where i was sitting i didnt see the beer hit TT, but i saw him wipe it off. Why feel the need to throw shit at them after such a great set? thats LA people for you...........

[ChiefOKONO]

Hello JacketGirl here & the Chief too!  I'm AMAZED once again. What a gorgeous night and what a lovely time on the rail. Watching this band is still mesmerizing.

Jim's comments about the hidden things to see in LA were hilarious --  like "the Statue of Liberty."  ;D

MsY - they played Wonderful Man right after "Sing You Songs" I was still basking in that glow but ChiefOkonoko reminded me that he played a 12-string electric on that one - or so we remember it that way.

The cape made more than one appearance - Jim really seems to like to use it -- in a Dracula sort of way at times. His happy eyes  smiling while the rest of his face is masked. He is the rock & roll Count!

I have to say, Smokin From Shootin has emerged as my favorite. I just cannot get enough of this song!

It's too bad TT got that beer thrown at him, he had a bad night too with Jim accidentally hitting him with his guitar.


Anyhoo- we are going to cherish this show for a lifetime. Epic spot on the rail!

Onto Chicago..... :D :D

[ms. yvon]

Thanks Ms. Y!  I was starting to wonder if anyone on the board was even going to be at this show!

there were actually a bunch of us.  i was with chiefokonokos and jacketgirl all night and got to say hello to vespachick before the show. it always suprises me how many people i don't recognize at these shows.   ;D
before the doors open i recognized a person waiting to go in:  we'd met four years ago in chicago at a run of wilco shows!  he was vacationing in CA from england and we happened to be waiting at the same entrance to the venue.

just remembered:  when jim greeted the crowd for the first time he thanked everyone for coming out to participate in the evening.  that's what it's all about.  [smiley=beer.gif]

[shakakahn]

amazing show last night. thank you so much ms. yvon  for posting the setlist.! i had to look it up (and bless your little soul it was there) to piece together all the awesomeness. hearing 'i will sing you songs' in the crisp outdoor air, rad. i can still taste the the cheap carafe of white wine. i am randomly catching them in minneapolis in a week, i can't wait! it's a twofer, hot diggity damn. 8-)

[ms. yvon]

hooray!  love your bernadette avatar!

another thought i just remembered from last night:  as jim was singing the last bits of wordless chorus he was belting out those gorgeous "whoooooos" , it occurred to me that the night before al green had probably doing some of the same on that very stage!

and for you instrument people:  tom had a problem with one of his bass (the fender, maybe?) so played the rickenbacker on some of the songs for the last bit of the show. his guitars are really elegant so it was fun to see him playing that bass with such a ostentatious finish.  it will likely turn up in a photo or two.

damn.  what a great time.
i'm at work but i'm distracted by calculations of time and distance, work hours and travel time re: the phoenix show.  ;D

[ChiefOKONO]

Ok, i'm not sure what I can say that hasn't already been covered by jacketgirl and ms. yvon
but boy was it a wonderful show and we rocked it out the whole time in the front!

I was able to notice some things that I usually can't see.
Jim had several awesome knee slide maneuvers, with and without the guitar.
There were some cool characters on stage including a cricket with a heart necklace, a bear paw and and octopus

Jim played bass on Two halves, a mightily distorted bass might I add!

Soooo many highlights.. Smokin from Shootin, Dondante, I will sing you songs, one big holiday closer, touch me pt.2 with the ending of all of the band chasing jim off the stage were just a few.
oh and i loved the intro to the show with Jim in the cape! we were laughing, smiling and rocking practically during the whole show!

yowza!!!

[mika j.]

the show was amazing! i'm still rockin out and glowing in the aftermath of the amazing magical show. it was my second mmj show, and i just fell deeper in love with them. i was on my feet most of the show singing and dancing having the best time ever! don't want them to leave california! (after s.d.) ms. yvon- sorry you didnt recognize people but i'm the girl you met waiting on the bench by the gate.

[ms. yvon]

hey, stinky-b!  fantastic!  thanks again for saving my spot!   ;D

have a terriric time in san diego!  you were also at berkeley, too, right?  doing the whole california run!  nice!   [smiley=beer.gif]

[DavidCrosby]

...are you saying that at the end of I Will Sing You Songs they did that little instrumental like off the end of It Still Moves???...if they did that makes me very happy that they brought it back and they better play it like that on NYE...please...

[vespachick]

-i will sing you songs (!!!!!! :D )--with a terrific arrangement of the ending.

Is this where they were jamming and rocked into a Neil Young riff?  I can't remember where this happened, but it was AWESOME!!!

Fantastic show!!  Jim's energy was lovely to see; it seemed that he was having a really good time. Carl, too.  He was really rockin a lot of the time.  The usual sucky LA crowd was not surprising, but it didn't interfere with my good time!!  Cool poster.  Can't wait for this weekend! 8-)

[...vacuuman...]

great show, as usual.  here are some nice pix: http://www.losanjealous.com/2008/09/23/my-morning-jacket-greek-theater-september-21-2008/

[Murph]

-i will sing you songs (!!!!!! :D )--with a terrific arrangement of the ending.

Is this where they were jamming and rocked into a Neil Young riff?  I can't remember where this happened, but it was AWESOME!!!

Fantastic show!!  Jim's energy was lovely to see; it seemed that he was having a really good time. Carl, too.  He was really rockin a lot of the time.  The usual sucky LA crowd was not surprising, but it didn't interfere with my good time!!  Cool poster.  Can't wait for this weekend! 8-)

do you remember what Neil Young riff they played or from wat Neil Young song it was from???  This just sounds awesome and i would love to know.

[vespachick]

-i will sing you songs (!!!!!! :D )--with a terrific arrangement of the ending.

Is this where they were jamming and rocked into a Neil Young riff?  I can't remember where this happened, but it was AWESOME!!!

Fantastic show!!  Jim's energy was lovely to see; it seemed that he was having a really good time. Carl, too.  He was really rockin a lot of the time.  The usual sucky LA crowd was not surprising, but it didn't interfere with my good time!!  Cool poster.  Can't wait for this weekend! 8-)

do you remember what Neil Young riff they played or from wat Neil Young song it was from???  This just sounds awesome and i would love to know.

Well, in my head I remember hearing it as being from "Ohio".  The crunchy guitar part: "bear bear bear bear, bu na na na, bear bear bear bear."

That's clear, right? ;D   Sorry, I'm not a musician. :-/

[ms. yvon]

it does sound like ohio! but i think that was in dondante at the crazy tone shift.

(we really need a bespectacled, bookish smilie or a slide rule icon for these moments.  ;D )

[jamesey]

this was my first MMJ show. It was soooooooo good. I can't believe I've been so silly to skip their show the last few times they've come to LA.