My Morning Jacket rocks the Northrop
My Morning Jacket and Hippo Campus at Northrop Auditorium
With each new album, My Morning Jacket’s sound has found a new direction while still holding on to the essence of everything they have done in the past. While much of their 2011 release Circuital felt like it was made on the moon, their recently released seventh album The Waterfall is very much rooted to the earth with a mellower feel than a lot of their recent work. The album was recorded in a studio overlooking the Pacific coast in Northern California, which highly influenced the major themes of rebirth and a connection to nature.
My Morning Jacket brought The Waterfall to the beautiful Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis, nearly selling out night one of two. The show got going with the opening track of The Waterfall, “Believe (Nobody Knows)”. It sounded great, although early on in the set, it felt a bit like the band was going through the motions. But soon after the acoustic tracks “Wonderful” and “Like a River” midway through the show, the dam broke open and the band hit very hard.
Guitarist and saxophonist Carl Broemel gets the headbanging award of the evening. Before Circuital‘s “First Light”, Broemel, obviously frustrated of technical difficulties with his saxophone, tossed the instrument down. Once fixed, the band hammered out that tune and it sounded so good. This was the beginning of an onslaught of rock.
“Dondante” from their 2005 album Z pushed over 15 minutes long, starting off slow and patiently. Singer and guitarist Jim James, donning big plastic sunglasses and a caped over-shirt, kicked some floor lights to the side and out of his way before plucking at his guitar. For several minutes the song felt like it was going fall apart; James seemingly in his own world compared to the rest of the band who held down the groove. Once he came back, “Dondante” ended with a siege of grinding guitars, Broemel saxophone headbangs, and it was mind-blowing. “Phone Went West” from the band’s 2001 release At Dawn followed, and ended with another long and stellar jam filled with “Dondante” guitar teases.
The encore started with “Spring (Among The Living)” from The Waterfall, accompanied by the best laser light show of the evening. This song sounded absolutely fantastic live. The night ended with the heavy “Holding on to Black Metal”, the upbeat “Anytime”, and the band’s 2003 It Still Moves classic “Mahgeetah”. My Morning Jacket at Northrop swayed in intensity, and ended with a flood of awesomeness.
Opening the night was the young local heroes Hippo Campus. They were quite impressive and polished for such a young new band. They played a great set, check them out.
Photos taken for Reviler. Photographers were relegated to stage left.
My Morning Jacket
Hippo Campus
My Morning Jacket at Northrop Auditorium – Minneapolis, MN 06.26.15 Setlist
Believe (Nobody Knows)
It Beats 4 U
Compound Fracture
Wordless Chorus
Off the Record
Wonderful (The Way I Feel)
Like A River
War Begun
I Will Sing You Songs
Heartbreakin Man
What a Wonderful Man
First Light
Thin Line
Dondante
Phone Went West
Encore:
Spring (Among The Living)
Holding on to Black Metal
Anytime
Mahgeetah
