Review: My Morning Jacket in Memphis — 4/19/22
The lockdown phase of the pandemic was hard on us music junkies. Our favorite hobby was snuffed out in an instant by public health officials and politicians with no real idea of a timeline for when concerts would return — nor did we have any idea what form they would take and what restrictions would be in place when shows finally began again. The limbo and uncertainty was hard for those of us who have often forged close friendships traversing the country seeing our favorite bands. We missed the music, we missed our friends. We missed the thrill of road trips and that flutter of excitement in our hearts when the lights go down just before a show begins.
Diehard live music fans are pretty much walking cases of FOMO in the most normal of times, but that year or so of uncertainty and frequent cancellations and awkward pod concerts and largely lifeless drive-in concerts cranked the fear of missing out to 11. I’ve had countless discussions with people about how the pandemic has kindled the spirit of “do the thing.” Nothing is guaranteed to any of us. Are you going to remember the night you stayed in hoping to find something kind of interesting on Netflix or are you going to remember the night Jim James shredded your face off with his flying V guitar in a gorgeous venue?
In the spirit of “do the thing,” I made the last minute decision to head to Memphis on Tuesday night to see My Morning Jacket at the beautiful Orpheum Theatre. MMJ has long been one of my favorite bands and I’d seen them quite a few times, but they dialed their touring back massively in 2018 and 2019, playing only a handful of select dates both years and then played zero shows in 2020 as the pandemic bore down on us. Enter 2021 and they were finally back on the road with an extensive tour itinerary. I hadn’t seen them since 2015 and was absolutely chomping at the bit to reunite my ears with their instruments in a live setting. I saw Jim James three times since my last MMJ show, but I was missing the band badly. After seeing their stellar show at the Alabama Theatre on 10/29/21 (that you can watch professionally shot video of on YouTube here), I quietly decided MMJ was going to become a priority in my concert travels for the foreseeable future.
After a thankfully smooth drive from Birmingham and a pre-show dinner at Rendezvous, we made our way to the Orpheum full of BBQ and in high spirits. Opener Madison Cunningham warmed the crowd up with a solid set. I wasn’t familiar with her music at all, but she had some really cool guitar parts and you’d serve yourself well to show up early and see her if this tour is rolling through your town.
At 8:45 p.m. on the nose, My Morning Jacket got things going with “Love Love Love,” a cut from their new, self-titled album. MMJ is all about some love and light and starting the evening’s proceedings on such a positive note could only point to good things. “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream, Pt. 1” was in the two hole and found front man Jim James strutting all over the stage in his cape like the benevolent rock royalty that he is. When the cape comes out on the second song, it’s another sign of good fortune to come. Something comes over Jim James we he dons the cape and it’s always memorable.
A little further into the set, they settled on a gorgeous triptych of tunes. “Feel You” could very well be on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon with its trippy, psychedelic airiness and gorgeous Gilmour-esque guitar solo. It’s one of my favorite tunes of theirs of more recent vintage. “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” provided one of the few breathers of the night with its gentle beauty. “In Color,” another song off of the new album was up next and starts off easy before exploding into a soulful blissed out crescendo of wailing guitars.
After a trio of quieter, trippier tunes, it was time once again for some full sail rocking and they kicked things up a notch or ten with “Wasted.” “Regularly Scheduled Programming” was the last song off the new album that they played and it has become a real energetic warhorse. I was a little unsure about the studio version of the song when it came out, but it really shines live. It’s another song that greatly benefits from some jamming and it becomes a real tour de force combined with the nearly hallucination-inducing swirl of white lights on stage. “Dondante” was up next and was the longest jam of the night. I wasn’t checking song lengths on my watch, but they jammed it out quite a bit (probably 20ish minutes) and it featured Carl Broemel trading his guitar for saxophone at the end and leading the exploratory jam firmly into Type II territory.
“Wordless Chorus” was next and no matter how many times I see this song performed live I am left in a state of absolute awe at the high notes Jim James hits in this tune. The crowd absolutely delighted with each yelp he took higher. The white lights hitting the disco ball and bathing the audience in a sea of stars is another light show highlight. It’s nothing particularly fancy, but the effect is immense and incredibly well timed. You could see ear to ear smiles illuminated in white light all over the concert hall.
The set ended after two more songs including a rousing rendition of “Off the Record” before finally closing with “Somebody Touch Me I’m Going to Scream, Pt. 2.” The 16 songs of the main set clocked in at two hours, sixteen minutes. They definitely give you your money’s worth.
After a three minute breather, the band came back for an incredibly high spirited three song encore of “Victory Dance,” an absolutely blistering “Dancefloors,” and finishing up with “One Big Holiday,” which you don’t mind hearing at every show because it’s an absolute tsunami of energy every time. It’s the perfect closer even if you know it’s coming. There’s a handful of tunes I’ve really missed seeing them play the last few times I’ve seen them including “Holdin’ On to Black Metal,” “Run Thru,” Steam Engine,” “In Its Infancy (The Waterfall),” and a few others, but I have no complaints despite missing out on some of my favorites. This was my ninth MMJ show and I haven’t seen a bad one yet, so I’m more than happy for them to keep doing what they want. Can’t wait to see them again.
Setlist (8:45 p.m. start): Love Love Love, Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 1, Circuital, Mahgeetah, I’m Amazed, Climbing the Ladder, Feel You, Wonderful (The Way I Feel), In Color, Wasted, Regularly Scheduled Programming, Dondante, Spring (Among the Living), Wordless Chorus, Off the Record, Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2 [End of set: 11:01 p.m.] / Encore (11:04 p.m. start): Victory Dance, Dancefloors, One Big Holiday (End of encore: 11:25 p.m.)
