My Morning Jacket: Timeless Folk For Today's Modern Rock

I can't think of too many other bands I would rather see live than My Morning Jacket. I saw them for the fourth time on December 27th at the Chicago Theatre and just like the three previous concerts I attended, I was left utterly amazed. MMJ rocks out bringing their country-folk sound (from Louisville, Kentucky), adventurous psychedelic rock, and extended jam sessions all into one distinct genre that is My Morning Jacket. The great thing about this band is that there is something for everyone. Few people can attend a My Morning Jacket show and not appreciate their unique sense of rock and get personally involved with the performance.

Many of us Chicagoans were waiting over two months for this show as it was rescheduled from its original October date. The band has been on break since a night in October in which the lead singer Jim James fell off the stage. Luckily, he wasn't seriously hurt and the folks at the Chicago Theatre looked out for him by placing red tape along the edge of the stage for this performance.

You couldn't tell that Jim was injured or that they had taken a mandatory two month break. This set of Chicago shows was close to the end of the Kentucky-based quintet's Evil Urges tour.

I attended the first of two nights and witnessed a twenty-four song set list. While this doesn't compare to the four hour long Bonnaroo set in a rainstorm, it lasted a good two and a half hours and was enough to satisfy. The show was dominated by many of the songs from their new album Evil Urges, but of course included a variety from their entire catalog. The show opened with the new album titled single Evil Urges and followed the album order onto Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 1. This served as an intro into the high energy rock anthem and crowd pleaser Off the Record. Also, in the early end of the expansive set list I was pleased to hear I'm Amazed, my favorite song off of the new album. Other personal highlights for me included the epic song Mahgeeta and the beautifully moving Where To Begin. The slow song, Librarian, was performed with Jim under a solo spotlight on the side of the stage. The relatively rowdy crowd relaxed for a bit on this and let Jim have his moment and his vocals shine.

The second half of the set included an old tune, War Begun, with a long extended jam session to please the veteran fans. Followed by a couple of songs I am in love with: Phone Went West and a longer version of Gideon. On stage throughout all the songs was a full-spectrum light show that had more variety between each of the songs than I imagined, but still had the My Morning Jacket smoky fog that I expected. Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2 closed the set before a four song encore.

The classic song Wordless Chorus opened up the encore and was followed by the highly robotic standoffish track Highly Suspicious. I will be the first admit that I am not a fan of this song on the album and that the quirky squeals get a little under my skin. But I didn't hate this song live, it was full of energy, deep bass and brought a different element of surprise to the show. The night ended with Anytime and One Big Holiday, arguably two songs that showcase the band's best talent and when heard live have the power to freeze time and give you a rush throughout your body.