Hello. So I would like to start off my first actual blog post by talking about something very near and dear to my (and soon to be your) heart. That folks is the band My Morning Jacket. MMJ is a band from Louisville, Kentucky, and boy howdy are they phenomenal. I was actually introduced to the band a
couple of years ago on my recommended artists on the popular music site last.FM (my profile), but I paid no attention to it because of my music racism (I didn’t like the name, thought it was going to be “emo”). Anyways, throughout the years, they were a band constantly popping up on my radar, much from people telling me about them ( including a friend from my broadcasting class who said “you’ll love them”, a person who I highly respected musically, but something in my bias told me to not check them out).
Well 6 months and several Rolling Stone articles later, I see in the local Westword that MMJ is coming to Red Rocks. Curious, I buy my tickets and head out to my local library to check out a My Morning Jacket C.D. The title of the compact disc that picked up was “Evil Urges”. I proceeded to put it on my iPod and I played the third song on the album (because I can start at whatever gersh-dern song I want) entitled “Highly Suspicious”. From the minute lead Singer Jim James started singing (?), I was on the floor laughing. The song had sort of a rockish opening riff, so I was completely taken off guard by the very high pitched voice.
I had never been engaged in a song in that way before. I was flabbergasted, amused, intrigued, and rocked all at once. By the time the song had finished, I wasn’t sure what had quite happened to me, or, if I would ever be the same again. I paused it during the opening notes of “I’m Amazed” and was done with the album for the day.
Over the next couple weeks I listened to “Evil Urges” 3-4 more times leading up to August 3rd, 2012, the night that was to change my life forever. For the folks who are unaware, Red Rocks Amphitheatre is probably the best concert venue on the planet, so i highly doubt you can experience a band in a better setting or circumstances. I had been there just once before, and it actually was not a fantastic experience, but that was 100 percent the band playing not being that good. (It was Blues Traveler, so that should explain that.
I pulled up to that extremely special spot in Morrison, CO in my del Sol, and I knew I was in for a treat. I talked to some great people in line that specifically told me so, and who am I to mistrust patchoulli smelling people. I was alone on this venture, so I was quite worried about losing my seat in case I had to piss or needed
water, but those fears alleviated as soon as I sat down and met the folks around me who promised they would save my seat if I did so for them. The opening bands were Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue (who was VERY danceable) and Band of Horses (who were overall boring but relaxing, and on a side note, most of the pretty girls appeared and then promptly disappeared when B.O.H took the stage and left Wtf???)
But almost all of the memories of
those bands quickly disappeared as soon as MMJ took the stage. I had almost completely forgotten about the previous two hours by the time they were into the second song, “The Way That He Sings” and from there is was an unforgettable roller coaster of music. I of course danced as much as possible, but it was particularly intense during “First Light” into “Holdin’ on to Black Metal” when some very pretty ladies decided to join me. Another serious highlight was when the dude from Band of Horses came on stage and did a duet with Jim James on the wonderful track “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)”, and that moment perfectly described how myself, and thousands of other people were feeling. We were in the place that Jim was singing about, and he was the one who put us there. It was pure joy felt by everyone simultaneously.
They continued the acoustic portion of the show with “Librarian” (the only MMJ song I recognized from the whole set) and a cover of Elton John’s “Rocket Man” which was a singalong that everybody knows. But soon after, they picked up the pace and continued with a full blown intenseness unlike I had ever experienced before. They plowed through songs that I now realize are classics like “Wordless Chorus” and “Masterplan” and by the time they had finished their 22 song set, I was exhausted. I had drank 3/4ths of my gallon of water but I still wanted more. Little did I know, the show wasn’t even close to over. I was going to get my wish of more tenfold. After who knows how long the guys came out and played an astonishing 7 song encore that included “Off the Record” and a cover of The Clash’s “Rock the Casbah”. I don’t think I have EVER danced harder than I did rocking the casbah, and I was thrilled that they just kept coming.
They came to Colorado on a warm August night, and with the final notes of “Gideon” they forever cemented themselves in my heart. For ten minutes after the show, I just sat down on the stone steps pondering the mind blowing two and a half hours that I just witnessed. The cleanup crew at Red Rocks looked at me like I was on drugs or something but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. I was completely sober throughout the entire night (which is sort of a rarity for me) and the clarity was refreshing. My Morning Jacket helped me realized that music is a FAR better drug than the weedstuffs. It was one of the funnest nights of my life, and I had the stamina and mental capacity to completely appreciate and process it. It was eye opening.
POST CONCERT “The Obsession”
Well needless to say I had become obsessed with everything that is MMJ. If you clicked on my link to the last.fm, you will see that I have gone on a seemingly endless binge of MMJ and I do not see an end in sight. If you have never heard them before, I promise your life will improve with their sweet sweet melodies and their experimental flare that will keep you guessing and smiling for the rest of your life in which you have the ability to hear.
Don’t believe me? Youtube some of their songs. (Sorry I am not posting them here, I am doing this from my phone and haven’t quite figured that out yet). Jim James is absolutely stunning in the earlier works like “The Way That He Sings” “Golden” “Masterplan” well and pretty much every song that he is on. I cried the first time I heard “Strangulation”, and I can’t even begin to tell you why. Jim’s voice is one of those special voices that rarely comes around and you will feel emotions that you didn’t even know you had.
Feeling Experimental? Try “Highly Suspicious” “Touch me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2” “Off the Record” “First Light”
My Morning Jacket’s diverse dynamics and enchanting sound will leave you wanting yet satisfied. “We are the innovators, they are the imitators” is a perfect line from “Wordless Chorus” that perfectly sums up this bands unique sound. Of course, I would strongly recommend listening to them on vinyl, as all of their recordings are on very high quality 180 gram vinyl, and besides live, it is the best sound quality. If your into downloading, (which I don’t personally condone, but this is how much of internet recieves their media), and/or you are just looking for a specific album to start out with, “Z” is a masterpiece to many (including myself).
As I discover more and more of this magical band, my love becomes deeper and deeper. I just recently picked up “At Dawn” on vinyl and it has blown me away. I still have a completely full length album to go through and all of the E.P’s. I look forward to exploring them with my readers and I want to thank you for sitting through my very first lengthy blog post. I hope I wasn’t too boring and I’d like to remind you of my last fm and my twitter @DrakeinCo. Thank you. 🙂
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