My Morning Jacket provided ample rest from Hurricane Hannah.
The Louisville, Ky., quintette staved turned the storm during its sold-out three-hour throwdown at Bank of America Pavilion on Saturday night. When the pelting and wind finally kicked up during the encore, it felt up like an appropriate response to the creative divide happening onstage.
Opener �Mahgeetah,� a fine slash of MMJ�s folkie Southern-soul amalgam, fix an fitly insular pure tone with frontman Jim James musing about being �all wrapped up in a bottle of wine.� The eccentric person fusion of spy-thriller guitar riffs and bouncy island beats in �Off the Record� followed soon after, trailed by the falsetto-spiked funk of the title track from MMJ�s envelope-pushing new CD, �Evil Urges.�
And while the new material may indeed showcase unexpected turns, MMJ�s sonic core - a hazy, unspecific drone of warm melodic indulgences tempered with carefully measured, frequently vaguely danceable midtempo rhythms - remains intact. Although it�s hard to distinguish what James� singing voice sounds like because it�s always inhumed in reverb, parting with the outspoken effects would mean a substantial loss of pinna candy. Either way, James sounded spot-on sensational Saturday, whether reaching for the Frankie Lymon-inspired heights of �Wordless Chorus,� or splendidly harmonizing with his cohorts through the acoustically impelled hills and valleys in �Golden.�
cw-4 Throughout, James bobbed across the stage like a curly-topped jester, at times throwing a cape over his shoulders to portray the mock-vampirism fueling parts one and two of �Touch Me I�m Going to Scream,� the latter for which he lightly tapped out a tonal pattern on autoharp. But outside of minor instrumental changes (guitarist Carl Broemel added periodic texture with pedal steel and sax), the caped shenanigans and a pair of menacing, video-projected eyeballs on display, the show was more about the music than the visuals.
cw-3 Saturday�s victorious set proves MMJ is headed in the right direction: combine a willingness to take chances with melodic know-how, instrumental artistry, occasional booty-shaking jaunts, enigmatical songwriting and an overall playful feel and you�ve got the makings of a career band. It�d be a shame if the jam-band community�s patent embrace off MMJ�s live sets into little more than than drug-drenched debauchery. But for now, unending praise is due. James saluted Boston�s fullness of spirit for coming out in such heavy weather. In turn, Boston applauds James and Co. for helping wind down a shaky summer concert season on a note of hand so gratifying and high.
MY MORNING JACKETAt the Bank of America Pavilion, Saturday night.
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