My Morning Jacket

Morrison, CO, Red Rocks – August 21, 2008

Setlist:
Anytime
Off the Record
Gideon
Evil Urges
Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 1
The Way that He Sings
What a Wonderful Man
I’m Amazed
Thank You Too!
Sec Walkin
Golden
Two Halves
War Begun
Lay Low
Aluminum Park
Mahgeeta
Phone Went West
Bermuda Highway
Librarian
Dondante
Smokin From Shootin ->
Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2

Encore:
Wordless Chorus
Highly Suspicious
Cobra
Steam Engine
Dancefloors
Run Thru
One Big Holiday

Opening Act:
The Black Keys


This day doesn’t start out according to plan. Around lunchtime Paula gets a call from Jen. Her three-month-old son Ellis has decided that nighttime isn’t appropriate for sleep; consequently she and Tom have been walking around like zombies all day. It’s a tough decision, but they’re going to bail on tonight’s My Morning Jacket (MMJ) concert in Denver. You see, Jen and MMJ frontman Jim James were friends in college at the University of Kentucky back when he was known as James Olliges. She can claim to be one of the oldest MMJ fans and had been looking forward to catching them at Red Rocks all summer. But it is not meant to be.

So, I spend the afternoon searching for a good home for Tom and Jen’s tickets. After some time I find Adam, an old friend and musician who’d seen MMJ with me in 2004. You should hear his excitement when I make the offer. “My Morning Jacket? You’re kidding? Of course I want to go! So where is this? The Fox Theater or something?” I reply, “No, Red Rocks.” There’s a moment of silence and then I hear a scream: “RED ROCKS! AWESOME!” He’s never been there before. Within an hour I’ve got the tickets in hand and Adam’s got his friend Elliot on board. They arrive at our house with a bounty of garden vegetables and chicken eggs. Who says this isn’t a barter economy?

The drive to Denver is smooth. After years of driving through Morrison toward the Manitou Experimental Forest I have this place figured out. We take the back road into Red Rocks and get a choice spot near the amphitheater. I love how laid back Red Rocks is. We have no problem taking in our cooler with snacks and beverages. Adam brings his camera. Compare this to San Antonio where they confiscated my pen. Being so late and after seeing that we don’t want to push our bodies into the front, Paula and I head to the upper general admission section. We find a home: row 55, seats 28 and 29. Adam and Elliot decide to test their luck up front. They eventually wind up in the 5th row!

It’s a pity that we’ve missed almost the entire opening set from the Black Keys. From what I see they’re really good. For just a two person band (guitar and drums) they produce a lot of sound. I like good old-fashion in-your-face guitar, and this has a lot of that. If anybody has one of their albums I’d love to check it out!

In between sets I notice one of the major differences between Red Rocks and most other venues. For example, at the Iron Maiden concert in San Antonio it cost $7 for a beer; well, rather a clear liquid masquerading as beer. At Red Rocks the price is the same, but the beer is good. Tonight I choose a Single Track from the Boulder Brewery. Very Tasty! As Paula and I sit waiting we notice a girl selling hideous glow-in-the-dark schlock. Who buys this crap?

Then the lights go out as the anticipation grows. At around 8:45 the assault begins: “Anytime”, “Off the Record”, and “Gideon”. Three classics from the ‘Z’ album. The band are dressed in dark clothes and the illumination is sparse. The first two-thirds of the amphitheater is packed; it is a bit thinned up where we’re standing. If you’ve never seen MMJ, do it soon. They are one of the best bands out there. I hate to describe their musical style, so I’ll just say it’s Kentucky music. Their music is exciting. Their live shows are exciting. What more could you want?

The band spends much of the set working though their new album, ‘Evil Urges’. I’m not too keen on the latest MMJ album, but everything sounds better tonight. They play “Evil Urges”, “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 1”, “I’m Amazed”, “Thank You Too!”, “Sec Walkin”, “Two Halves”, and “Aluminum Park” from the album. For “Touch Me” Jim James exchanges his guitar for a cape, a la Count Dracula (very strange). They throw a few classics into the mix as well: “The Way that He Sings”, “What a Wonderful Man”, “Golden”, “War Begun”, “Lay Low” (again featuring the cape), and “Mahgeeta”. They really get into “War Begun”.

I hate to complain that much, but the sound at Red Rocks really is hideous. I’ve been there several times and it’s always been terrible. I’m not sure if it’s the location of the PA at the base of the foothills, the sound bouncing off the rocks, the under-powered PA system, or the incompetent sound engineers. But it always sounds like mud. Tonight the bass really suffers. I’m not sure I can make out a single intelligible bass note all night. The bass and the kick drum create a low frequency wasteland.

Now, for those of you who’ve never been to Red Rocks, let me explain that you will never find a more dramatic venue to experience a concert. It may be equaled, but never exceeded. As MMJ settles into mellow territory with “Phone Went West”, “Bermuda Highway”, and “Librarian”, I take in the full beauty. It’s about 10 p.m. and the stars are shining on this perfect night. The pillars of rocks that make up the amphitheater are simply majestic; in the backlight they are the warmest red you could ever imagine. The music is romantic. The city is sparkling over the hills in the background. And the most wonderful half-moon is rising over Denver. I’ve only seen a few that were larger or more orange. Paula and I relax in our seats and enjoy this moment. This is my highlight of the entire evening.

The concert’s climatic end are “Dondonte” (with a beautiful saxophone solo) and the final songs from ‘Evil Urges’. “Smokin From Shootin” looses much of its drama in the acoustics. I watch “Two Tone” Tommy on the video screen and see that he is hitting different notes up and down his bass. All I hear is this throbbing mush, “whoomb, whoomb, whoomb, whoomb.” “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2” really exceeds my expectations. Armed with a Casio keyboard and plenty of smoke, Jim James leads the band through this psychedelic dance anthem. Perhaps the ending is a bit rushed, but it is triumphant nonetheless.

As the audience cheers for the encore I hear a fan screaming for “Highly Suspicious”. I’m thinking, “Just a few more songs and we’ll be spared that abomination”. The band and the cape reappear a few moments later for “Wordless Chorus”. By the end of the song Jim James is flailing around some kind of the lion’s head. Who knows why, but consider this is the guy who dressed like a pirate with a parrot on his shoulder the first time I saw him; last time he was wearing two six shooters around his waist. And then my nightmare is fully realized when I hear the first few techno-thrash notes of “Highly Suspicious”. The crowd around me is really excited. Why on earth? I don’t think there has been a worse song ever written since Axl Rose tacked the garbage that is “My World” onto the end of ‘Use Your Illusion II”. Much like a beaten down Rocky Balboa, Jim James performs with a towel over his head. If it were me I’d be wearing a bag over mine. “… Peanut butter pudding surprise!”

The first time I saw MMJ they finished up with their disco/dance anthem “Cobra”. Over the years that song has really grown on me. It seemed out of place back then, but makes a lot of sense today. Again, the acoustics ruin some of the experience.

The home stretch of this epic concert features the album ‘It Still Moves’. On “Steam Engine” Jim James donnes the lions head. I though gimmicks like that belonged at Iron Maiden concerts. But, there’s nothing gimmicky about “Dancefloors”, “Run Thru”, or “One Big Holiday”. The strobe lights are in fully force. The band is on fire. Two and three-quarters hours is a lot of music. It’s 11:30 and MMJ says “Good night” to Red Rocks.

The next day I find a discussion of the concert. There’s a comment that I want to paraphrase: “To Jen, your little band isn’t so little anymore.”

By the way, you can read little Ellis Hayes’ blog at:

http://www.babyhayesblog.blogspot.com/

John
August 2008

P.S. I do not have Adam's pictures yet. So come back soon for his photos of the concert.

Notes:

For those of you who care, here’s the breakdown by album:
‘The Tennessee Fire’ – 1 song played
‘At Dawn’ – 3 songs played
‘Chocolate and Ice’ – 1 song played
‘It Still Moves’ – 6 songs played
‘Z’ – 7 songs played
‘Evil Urges’ – 11 songs played