Ashvegas music correspondent McFly did Ashvegas after dark Wednesday night and filed this report:
The head banging was the same, but the hair was a bit shorter. And though we could see Jim James’ face this time, we still couldnt understand most of what he was singing.
But like fellow cryptographer Michael Stipe, it really doesn’t matter what James is saying – the audience connection is still there. James’ band My Morning Jacket was back at the Orange Peel last night, where the group of Kentucky headhunters worked their way through another strong set of feedback-rich, atmospheric jams, which included the band’s trademark heavy reverb on James’ voice.
“People always told me that bars are dark and lonely, and talk is often cheap and filled with air,” James crooned during the more decipherable “Golden” from 2003’s “It Still Moves.” Tunes from that breakthrough album formed the backbone of the set, but the band also broke out a loose cover of Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” that the Rolling Thunder Revue would have certified.
MMJ heads to Knoxville today, before returning to this weekend’s Bonnaroo, where blissed-out fans will likely appreciate the visual addition of a Beethoven-wigged conducter who waves a baton at the band throughout the show.
Fans who soaked in the Louisville-based band’s dense sounds last night benefitted from a new prop at the Orange Peel: a helicopter-sized ceiling fan that swirled the indoor air. Motioning to the fan early in the night, James said the stage would slowly rise until the show peaked with the resulting carnage. Mercifully, he was just joking.
– McFly