This weekend marked My Morning Jacket's annual One Big Holiday, the three-night "music vacation" they host on Miramar Beach in Florida. The band played all three nights, with artists like Dinosaur Jr., S.G. Goodman, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and more rounding out the schedule. My Morning Jacket did quite a few covers with their various pals at the fest.
Frontman Jim James has done a solo rendition of Brian Wilson's 1988 song "Love And Mercy" live before, but last Thursday (April 3) marked the first time MMJ did the song together. That same night the Preservation Hall Jazz Band joined them onstage for a cover of Cymande’s “Bra” from 1972. (The British funk group recently released their new album Renascence, their first in a decade.)
During Friday's set, MMJ brought out Kentucky indie folk singer Maggie Halfman to do her own “Come On.” They covered Neil Young & Crazy Horse's “Like A Hurricane,” a song MMJ guitarist Carl Broemel has covered solo before, with S.G. Goodman on lead vocals. Then MMJ revisited their rendition of Radiohead’s "The National Anthem" with Karina Rykman.
Finally, last night MMJ revisited their covers of Bob Weir's "One More Saturday Night" and Elton John's "Rocket Man." Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis also came out to help close the festival with their 2002 song "One Big Holiday." (Mascis joined the band at Mempho Music Festival to cover the Rolling Stones' "Happy" in 2023.)
