Bonnaroo: My Morning Jacket Own. Everything.
Greetings from Manchester, TN, where the present conditions are RAIN and I'M SOAKED, much as they were for approximately 85% of My Morning Jacket's slow-starting but ultimately epic, three-hour midnight set at the Which Stage last night. There was a full day of photos before that, which we'll get to later -- including Metallica, and M.I.A.'s "last gig ever" (don't worry she was joking), and Chris Rock, and etc. -- but this is the start that feels right, 'cause Bonnaroo's all about the late night. To that point, looking at the schedule yesterday I'd have thought tonight's Sigur Rós set at 1AM followed by Kanye at 3AM would be the best of the fest's nocturnal emissions. An Erykah Badu cover, a Kirk Hammet guest solo on "One Big Holiday," and the advent of MMJ as the world's greatest funk-cover-wedding band changed that. And I have the incredibly shitty, rain-drenched photos to back it up. But first, some more babble.
The "Evil Urges"/"Off The Record" set opening was perfectly sequenced for Bonnaroo: "Evil Urges" is a microcosm of the far-flung sounds of this festival -- part virtuosic and spacey groove, part Dead-headed Jerry-meandering guitar lines, part rapid-fire roided up Southern Rock -- in much the same way My Morning Jacket is the quintessential Bonnaroo band. But still, it was all uphill for that first hour. Cooling off. Getting wet. And the setlist wasn't doing us many favors by way of rock distraction. By the time "Sec Walkin'" hit around 1AM, I wasn't sure what to think. It was pouring, we were tired, and Jim was singing gently about his ambulatory process in a farmer's hat.
It's not easy for a band and a crowd to find a mutual groove in those conditions, especially as the weather continued to weed out the weak from the audience, but it all aligned around 1AM for "Lay Low": the rain started coming down even harder to the point of hilarity just as Jim and Carl hit into that dual guitar solo bit, shades of the Allmans on the harmonizing lines. The rain swelled, the band leaned into it, the crowd roared, and it was ON. Giddiness. A few songs later I turned to my friend and said "I don't know this song, must be new, but it sounds exactly like Badu's 'Call Tyrone.'" And then Jim laid it out ... "I think you better call Tyrone..." It wasn't highly recognized amongst the now relatively intimate crowd huddled around the Which Stage, but I cut quite an image as a cackling Badu-quoting goofball in the drizzle.
The other thing I kept telling my friend, particularly during the ebbs in the set's flow, was "this crowd needs 'One Big Holiday.'" When it finally came, at 2AM, Jimmy James introduced "an up and comer" named Kirk Hammett and MMJ capped their power hour with the six best minutes of live music I've seen this year. Of course, it was all in the moment: drenched but pumping arms, making friends with the other equally imbecilec folks silly enough to think the time waiting through the rain for something like this might be worth it (it was). The shit jammed, because it is the ultimate MMJ song. Insider tip: Kirk can solo. This is his back, in a hat and in the rain:
And then, "We've got a lot left in us, we know you have a lot left in you." SET BREAK. Ha. I waited (and waded) through it and promised myself I'd stay 'til 3, and so I did. As a result, I witnessed the aforementioned advent of MMJ's funk incarnation: James Brown's "Cold Sweat" (with Jim doing a JB shuffle across the stage in a cape and hat), Funkadelic's "Hit It And Quit It," and "Get Down On It" by Kool And The Gang. Yes, Kool & The Gang. And yes, My Morning Jacket are available for your next bar mitzvah or corporate function. We laughed, danced, cheered. Look all I'm saying is, they're the best festival band in America. We said it before. Nothing about that is controversial after you've seen 'em lay it out for you.
Now here's the sadness: I knew leaving early I'd miss something. And I did. MMJ covered Mötley Crüe's "Home Sweet Home," with Zach Galifianakis as Little Orphan Annie. I don't even know what that was about. But I bet there were beards involved.
Here are my terrible photos (I will make it up to you on the Metallica post, coming up...):
SETLIST (via mymorningjacket.com)
01 "Evil Urges"
02 "Off The Record"
03 "Gideon"
04 "Hot Fun In The Summertime" (Sly & the Family Stone) *
05 "Highly Suspicious"
06 "What A Wonderful Man"
07 "I'm Amazed"
08 "Thank You Too"
09 "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 1"
10 "Sec Walkin"
11 "Golden"
12 "Two Halves"
13 "Lay Low"
14 "Hit It and Quit It" (Funkadelic)
15 "Tyrone" (Erykah Badu)
16 "Steam Engine" -->drum solo
17 "Anytime"
18 "Aluminum Park"
19 "Easy Morning Rebel" *
20 "Dancefloors" *
21 "One Big Holiday" (w/ Kirk Hammett)
----
22 "Cold Sweat" (James Brown) *
23 "Get Down On It" (Kool & the Gang) *
24 "Across 110th Street" (Bobby Womack) *
25 "Wordless Chorus"
26 "Phone Went West"
27 "Mahgeetah"
28 "Oh Sweet Nuthin" (The Velvet Underground)
29 "Librarian"
30 "Bermuda Highway" (Jim James solo)
31 "Dondante"
32 "Run Thru"
33 "Smokin From Shootin"
34 "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 2"
35 "Home Sweet Home (Feat. Zach Galifianaks as Little Orphan Annie) (Mötley Crüe)
* w/Jeff Coffin on saxophone and the Nashville/Louisville Horns
My Morning Jacket are playing a New Year's Eve show at Madison Square Garden this year. If you have the means to get to NYC, that is what you're doing on 12/31 right there. Thnks fr th mmrs, MMJ. No pressure, Jonsi and 'Ye.
Posted at 1:36 PM by amrit in Concert
Tags: Bonnaroo | Kirk Hammett | Metallica | My Morning Jacket | Zach Galifianakis
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Thanks for the review,I got goosebumps reading it. MMJ are the best live band in the world.
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There's a version of "Tyrone" on MMJ's "Early Recordings: Chapter 2: Learning" album. Great review. So sad I had to miss it this year....
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i would love to hear "Across 110th Street"
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Awesome!!!
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Can't wait to hear the Crüe cover and Hammett on "One Big Holiday." Solid review, glad you had fun!
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Reallly they played Oh Sweet Nuthin' that is one the most underrated velvet songs... whic I was there for that.
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jesus, that is one long set. i dont if i could've made it all the way through it either, but it sounds like it was a great show.
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Would love to hear this! Anybody know where you can find this?
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My personal favorite set of the whole weekend. Jim James rocking out under the white stage lights during the middle of a monsoon is unforgettable. I need a video of the whole concert. Forget Okonokos, Bonnaroo was better.
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Love the coverage! We have a great roundup over at MUSE if you folks want to check it out.
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DId anyone notice that Jim James couldn't bring out his electonic box thing bc of the rain to play Touch Me part 2. He did the sounds with his mouth instead. It was incredible. And yes, One Big Holiday with Hammett was the best live music moment of my life. I saw it on Fuse last night when I got home. I would have cried for years if I didn't go to Bonnaroo and had to miss that.
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For sure MMJ gave the best performance of Bonnaroo 2008. I was in awe just like during Radiohead at Bonnaroo 2006. It is just so great to see such capable musicians at their peak of creative genius. At one point Jim did comment that rain and electronics are not friends so they were trying to get all the tools working. The fact that they pulled off such a memorable performance with a handicap is a testament to their talent.
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I was at Bonnaroo in 2004 and saw MMJ. A huge storm came in while they were playing and it was just about the most amazing show I've ever experienced. I wish I could have gotten drenched to MMJ again this year. Guess I'll have to get to NY for New Years.
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How about when he was singing The Librarian song and he changed the lyric and said "The feedback is all fucked up" and then started the song over and then when he sang "...Singing in the rain" and everyone started cheering. The rain turned out to be an epic MMJ prop for Bonnaroo this year. I don't understand how their late night Bonnaroo sets are always so magical.
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MMJ archives pretty much all their live shows on www.archive.org if anyone is interested, (lots I'm sure). this is not up yet but hopefully it will be soon. Got to the show at 8pm with about 200-250 die hards and stayed the whole time till 4:30. It was indescribable
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every second of this four hour show was toe curlingly good.
god bless them, for fucking real.
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This was the overall best performance of Bonnaroo 2008. Somehow the music was able to control the intensity of the rain. I've never seen anything like it. It was truly a once in a lifetime event and ranks as one of my all time top concert experiences. My Morning Jacket is the greatest living American band today.
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4 hours not 3 goddamnit! almost every review ive read has gotten it wrong. At least you admitted to leaving unlike the many others who claim to have stayed throughout the "entire 3 hour set!
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Would somebody PLEASE put the FUSE television airing of One Big Holiday on Youtube. I've been searching every 2 minutes for it.
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http://www.archive.org/details/mmj2008-06-13.140v3.flacf16
Here it is folks.
i've listened to it about 3 times now.
very good.
"home sweet home" isn't that amazing but still worth the listen.
Amazing all around show still
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