Americanarama Tour Appreciation Thread

[oistheone]

I feel it's time to give a collective shoutout to not only MMJ, but every band on the Americanarama bill for putting on one hell of a tour.

I went into this tour with low expectations. It was going to be great to see the boys in a summer when not many of us thought they'd be touring, but I wasn't expecting anything more than the usual festival setlist. MMJ wasn't going to have a lot of time, so maybe we'd get a rarity or two per show, but nothing of the mindblowing variety.

Yet here we are with the tour nearly complete, and pretty much every single show on this tour has been mindblowingly epic and full of surprises. The boys have dusted off songs they haven't played in ages, participated in collaborations many thought would never happen, and have generally KICKED ASS, even when in many instances, they have been playing HOURS before sunset to sparsely-populated crowds.

Kudos on an amazing tour so far, gentlemen. Your fans sincerely thank you. You have reignited the fire, and now it's time for us to gather 'round that flame, and let it burn on and on.

[BH]

Great thread!  I don't know why, but I wasn't exactly blown away when I heard about this tour. I guess because I was worried about short MMJ sets and expensive tickets.   But WOW.    Now I'm really bummed I think I"m gonna miss the whole thing.  What a great tour!  And pretty unique and special.   When everything is dedicated to the music, good things always happen!   Never a dull moment with this band.

[johnnYYac]

Awesome, O!  I echo the sentiment. One thing I'm no longer surprised by, though... MMJ always delivers! 

[LeanneP]

Even tho the shows have only been an hour, I felt like, at least for the two shows we saw, the boys packed lots in. They gave us eclectic sets and delivered 100% even though the venues were only half full and many people were not there for them. It was an interesting challenge to see them meet and conquer.

[Fully]

Also last night Beck filled in for Jacket. According to Morritz's friend Paul, who many of you know -he was at Port Chester and HILARIOUS, Sean Lennon came out and played on Tomorrow Never Knows and Yer Blues.

I enjoyed the three shows I went to a great deal, mainly bc MMJ put their heart into their short early sets and they paired so nicely with Bob Weir and Wilco. I hate that I couldn't make it to some of the shows where Chest Fever or Jim/Tweedy/Dylan collars popped up. Like BH said, going in I wasn't all that excited about the shows, but after seeing two I ended up not being able to quit and got one more show in. It's turned out much better than I thought it would. Thanks.

[ericm]

I'm thankful for getting to see some live Jacket shows in what looked to be an off year. Even with a shorter set,it still gives me that rush, and feeds my jones. Seeing Wilco, and Dylan are bonuses for me. If it took these bands to do this tour, and get MMJ on the road, then I'm grateful to them for that too. 

The collabs have been fantastic, and as someone on another board said, all three are to be commended for not only stellar shows, but putting together a throwback to years gone by,single day fest type tour, and showing others how it's done!  Here's hoping other bands sit up, take notice, and carry the torch forward. 

[bartel]

the wilco set at jones beach was amazing yet again with more special guests (sean lennon) they played yer blues and tomorrow never knows.. awesome. what a tour it has been.

[Colfax]

In!

I might not see another Wilco show unless it's this type of situation, but I really enjoyed seeing them and am glad for the opportunity.

The Bob Weir stuff was really amazing.

[buster douglas]

I really enjoyed all four sets that I saw on this tour.  Even Dylan.

I think some people seem disappointed because they hope that every single MMJ show will be Bonnaroo '08... well folks, that just won't happen on this tour, and that was never the intent!
MMJ is in the warm-up slot for this tour, and that's ok-- in fact, I love the change in dynamic!  They still crammed a lot of rock into 70 minutes, and probably made a whole bunch of new fans along the way!  Their sets had a completely different vibe than the epic features of past tours... and that's ok!  This was a chance for the boys to get some shine from some legendary acts and just have fun along the way!  It seems like they've been really loose and having fun!  Don't worry folks, there will be plenty of epic MMJ tours to come!

Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised by Ryan Bingham, loved seeing Wilco for the first time, and Dylan actually surpassed my relatively low expectations.  Not to mention I was treated to a surprise set by Mr. Garth Hudson!!

For $60 balcony seats, this was probably the most value I've ever gotten from a show ever.

[oistheone]

Is there a standing ovation icon?

Well done gentlemen, well done.

[bartel]

very much worth the price of admission if just for wilco and mmj.... very impressed with the set's and overall performances from both bands.

[manonthemoon]

Well a little MMJ is better than no MMJ, but to be fair I thought the guys brought it each of the three nights we saw of the tour.  The collaborations were the best part of the whole thing, IMO, but there were a few rarities that saw daylight which was nice.

I was impressed with one of the Wilco sets we saw, VB, but overall I came away more impressed with Nels than the rest of the band.  That man is an epic guitarist who I would pay to see just by himself.

Bingham was really solid IMO, really liked the use of the fiddle in most of his songs and they seemed to really enjoy themselves even though they were playing to nearly empty seats throughout the shows.

Dylan was pretty bad IMO.  Granted we only stayed for one of his sets, but when you can't make out the words that are coming out of the guys mouth from the pit no less, then theres not too much I can say.  I also thought he was pretty much full of himself in that he never acknowledged the crowd during the entire set.  But at least I guess we can say we saw a legend at least once.  I also guess you have to thank the man for wanting MMJ on the tour in the first place.

[scosby2]

Thank you My Morning Jacket....

For opening Atlanta with The Dark for me

For playing The Bear in Tuscaloosa like I asked...

For writing in HELL when you noticed BETH and I and a few other faithful followers were pretty much the only people rocking out in T-Town...

For being the best band there is today and to always remember that no matter what we are all in this together

[Fully]

Ok. Scosby pretty much said what I experienced too. But thanks for playing a tour where we got to hang out and meet some very colorful, loving fans of Dylan who we watched follow the tour and become MMJ fans too. That was pretty fucking cool. Not to mention Rowe and milk jug guy and Scosby's friend were great memories from these shows.

[JerseyDan]

the 3 shows I caught were all special but nothing will beat the Masterplan and Stones cover with Dawes and VU cover with Phosphorescent in Camden...well maybe All The Young Dudes in Hoboken...or The Weight that same night.

we are lucky humans! 

[e-stone]

for some reason i thought i read (either here or the wilco board) that there would be no MMJ "Official Bootlegs" or Wilco "Roadcase" for this tour.  i can't seem to find anything about that now, so i'm hoping like hell that was just a bad dream.

anyone know anything definitive?

[lpkell2145]

Thank you MMJ! This tour was definitely something special! The crowd was awesome...all different ages from all walks of life, the music was some of the most gorgeous, feel-good stuff I've ever heard! It was just a happy time for me and my crew. I even saw some people skipping. Skipping! That's happiness and freedom you don't get to see very often so thank you and thank you!