The night didn't seem ripe for a concert. A hazy, drizzly mist hovered above Berkeley's Greek Theatre for hours before My Morning Jacket took the stage Friday night. As crew members threw a tarp over the amplifiers, a tiny, sinking worry emerged that the gig might not happen.
But play the resiliently unclassifiable Louisville, Ky., rock quartet did, cutting through the fog with a three-hour, 27-song set of scorching, liquid fire. "The Bay Area looks like a glossy, misty Scottish battlefield," joked Jim James, lead singer/guitarist and chief entertainer. "A loving, caring battlefield covered in mist and dew."
This battlefield was the grounds where MMJ made a Mother Nature-assisted case it's one of the best bands working today. They were transcendent, eclectic, buoyant giants, strutting the dance funk of "Highly Suspicious," the country-fried croon of "Golden" or the rock-'til-you-drop relentlessness of "Anytime."
For a group that's performed a number of memorable shows in the Bay Area — the Okonokos live album/video was recorded in 2005 at The Fillmore and the band returned there for a New Year's Eve run in 2006 — Friday night's gig upped the size of the crowd without diminishing the voltage.
James, the energetic singer and showman, bounced from his stage left post to center stage, jumping in place before firing the opening volley into "Dancefloors." Later, during It Still Moves nugget "Mahgeetah," he closed with a smoking solo, accented with a kick stomp backward off of the center amp. Whether reaching for soaring falsetto or growling the explosive howls to close "Gideon" (which is what he's singing in the camera phone picture I've included), James emerged from the fog with a hopping mop of curly brown hair and visible breath condensation. The combination made him seem like some prowling, smoke-breathing rock leviathan.
The other members may not have been as flashy, but the diversity of the band's catalog showed their chops. While bassist "Two-Tone Tommy" Blankenship rarely moved from a 10-foot radius near center stage, his dexterous ability to complement songs could've been easily overlooked. Blankenship knew how to brandish his weapon, withholding on the gentle "Librarian," but pushing it up to 11 for the thunderous finale, "One Big Holiday." Keyboardist Bo Koster had a chance to shine in "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2," while drummer Patrick Hallahan kept time like a Swiss watch.
Carl Broemel, pictured at left, with his Les Paul guitars, swooning pedal steel and even a saxophone solo on "Dondante" showed the level of musicianship required to be in a band so varied, complex and genre-bending. Though he didn't solo nearly as often as James, his confident rhythm playing gave the lead singer the ability to go for explosive solos. His work on the steel guitar to give "Golden" its signature sprawling Southern color was easy to miss for those focused on James, who performed the song with a towel draped over his head.
The set drew heavily from 2004's breakthrough record Z and this year's Evil Urges, comprising 17 of the 27 songs. Still, there were old favorites, including a bombastic blues take on "Run Thru." The rarity of the night was a truncated version of Chocolate and Ice EP epic "Cobra," chopping its 24-minute run down to around the eight-minute mark. Still, James provided the entertainment, wrapping a towel around his head like a blindfold and holding his hands together with the concentration of a pre-battle Kung Fu warrior.
There are nights when a band is "on," that they had "it," words that are almost as indefinable as what brand of rock MMJ plays. Whatever those words mean, My Morning Jacket owned them Friday night. The band was a well-oiled machine. Mother Nature's mist, fog and drizzle should have hindered the performance, but instead enhanced it, providing the five men a mystical atmosphere. They oozed confidence, transfixing the 8,500 at the Greek Theatre.
If I needed any further proof that they are one of the best new acts to emerge in this decade, this show was it.
Update: Here's a fan-shot video of the night-closing "One Big Holiday."
Video of I'm Amazed here:
http://dincstudiosf.blip.tv/file/1279923
Posted by: Drawk | September 20, 2008 at 05:28 PM