My Morning Jacket (Live!)

I'm not gonna lie: I'm getting tired.

While my summertime has burned into a brightly burning sun, its headed towards an inevitable implosion into gravity's pull. I'm feeling it.

We drive miles upon miles of Utah highway. We keep my kids up too late.  They wake up with little "kiddie hangovers." (It is worth noting, however, that their behavior has provided me with some intriguing concepts for a movie called "Trainspotting: Wee Lil' Tots.")

Anyhoo...I'm not going to go out quietly, dammit! I've got a few more concerts to go to! Curfews be damned!! (Not to mention, I still need to blog about "The Dark Knight Rises!")

Enter: My Morning Jacket!!

I've previously described the sound of MMJ to friends and people in line at Costco like this:

"If Neil Young were to make sweet love to Radiohead whilst listening to Prince, the product of this affair would be My Morning Jacket."

You see, with MMJ you get the wild Crazyhorse jam-band PLUS weirdo-future sounds with a little bit of funk.

What's not to like?

So, yeah, anyways, like I've blogged about before, music is special and blah-blah-blah and it reunites friends, and blah-blah-blah, but it does.

One of my buddies from high school was able to hook me up with bourgeois VIP passes to Salt Lake City's infamous "Twilight Concert Series!" (That said, the concert series is a $5 show. So, VIP passes to this concert is kinda like putting a candle in a Twinkie), but WHATEVS!

Val and I rocked the VIP section like Kanye, bitches! (EXHIBITS A & B):

They fed us free, organic hippie food and offered us alcoholic beverages that I don't know how to consume! I'm pretty sure folks thought we were Tom Hanks and Charlize Theron! (Either that or a chubby-suburban-sorta-Mormon-ish couple). Either way, it was nice.

(Thanks, Brock. I'm buying a Subaru!)

Here's a shot from backstage where Jim James summoned the Sun God Ra to enhance his face-melting guitar skillz!

Here's another shot by a local scenester, photographer, and general good-dude-do-gooder: Aaron Coleman (yeah, if you're reading this blog, he's the dude that basically started the chain reaction of my "Music is Life" episode at Wilco a few weeks ago. You can read about it in my Wilco (Live!) blog.)

If you're unfamiliar with the genius of Jim James (aka Yim Yames), I recommend you listen to his side projects "Monsters of Folk" and "New Multitudes," plus some of his solo stuff. He has an iconic voice that will go places you didn't know existed.

The man has a place in my rock temple. I light candles at his feet frequently.

MMJ did VH1 "Story Tellers" last year. It was cool and revealing to hear Jim James talk about his music. He's all-in. Total artist. (Not to mention he has rad-Shaman-dance moves!)


Well, there you have it.  My favorite songs of the night were:

1. Phone Went West (A slow-burning plea for a "doctor to make things right.")
2. Mageetah (Classic summertime jam. Essential for your late summer listening).
3. Touch Me I'm Going To Scream, Part 2 (MMJ touching on a dance groove).
4. Off the Record (A Rock Solid Rock Song.)
5. Golden (MMJ singing about the road, the journey, and the jams!)
6. Circuital (Quintessential MMJ).

More Pics of MMJ's Rockedness: