The Henry Fonda- LA 11/10/05

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.thelisten.net/live/2005/11/my_morning_jack.html

My Morning Jacket @ The Henry Fonda- LA 11/10/05
My Morning Jacket can be described in many ways: Jam Band, Indie Band, 70's Classic Rock band, Alt-Country band.....I'm going to go with all of the above.  It was an experience to say the least in going to see My Morning Jacket aka MMJ at the Henry Fonda last night.

Since MMJ fits into so many genres, you can only imagine what this means for the crowd in attendance.  There were the dead-heads, the indie kids, the college-frat-sorority kids, and of course the industry types.  Great people watching.  I love the Henry Fonda...perfect in-between venue...not too big, but big enough.  But the low point of the evening was due to this great establishment.  The security guard did the obligatory check of my purse and to my surprise asked me to throw my pack of gum away....oh, the horror!  Seriously.  AND then he took it one step further and told me to spit out my gum....THAT WAS IN MY MOUTH!  Really, is there a huge gum-on-the-floor problem at this venue?!?  More so than at any other venue....this was news to me.  Suggestion to venue: why don't you take away my pen like at the Paladium, so I won't vandalize and/or stab someone...something that's an actual danger to the public at large.  OK, my rant is over.  Now, onto the main event, MMJ.

The band started in the dark with "Worldless Chorus" with a strobe light hitting them on the....well, chorus.  Nice start MMJ...nice start.  Then the lights came up  a bit....enough so that you could see their set decorated with several small fake owles....20 or so.  They then launched into favs from the new record "Z" with high points of "Gideon", "It Beats 4U", and "What a Wonderful Man", and tunes from the previous album like "One Big Holiday", "Golden", and "Dancefloors".  The boys are passionate about their music and it showed in their 10+ minute jams.  I was mesmerized during the first few jam sessions- in awe of their sheer stamina to keep ascending in loudness and energy.  It helps for them to have long hair only adding emphasis to their beats.  And might I say, they all have A LOT of hair (Jim's being a little shorter these days...a touch above the shoulder)... I never even saw the drummer's face behind his curtain of hair.  And they banged their manes with vigor during every song.  They really wowed me during their jamming on "Lay Low".   But there is a point that I reach jam saturation and only want them to pepper the set list with it rather than being a necessary part of every tune.   I had to bail for their encore due to my very busy nightlife..you know how that goes.....which was much to my detriment, since I understand that they played my personal fav "Off the Record".  Go here to listen to this most catchy track.  

Overall, I had a great first experience seeing MMJ. They are a must see at least once.  And by the looks of it, have filled the jam band void for many people. I know they have quenched this girl's thirst for that 70's rock sound with a twist of eccentricity.

One quick side note to the people who attend a show as a social setting rather than an observation of great music:  please go to the lobby or smoking patio to catch up on each other's lives.....I didn't come to see a band only to hear about how your week is going screamed into your friend's ear.  That's not the point of the show.

Read a post from the band here regarding the theme of their recent San Francisco shows.  The boys are funny.

[riceisnice]

How poorly written is that. Why do people without any literary talent even attempt to write proper reviews? MMJ deserve better.