My Morning Jacket - D.A.R. Constitution Hall (9/3/08)

Recently I was discussing upcoming concerts with someone who knows a fair bit about music and I mentioned that I was really looking forward to finally seeing MMJ. Her response was, "They're too serious. They need to lighten up." At the time I didn't quite understand what the hell she was talking about, and after Wednesday night here are my observations:

• If music is a person's/band's livelihood, I hope they take it seriously.
• Anyone who wears a towel on their head/moon boots/cape (whether it be on or off stage) can't be too serious.
• If too serious is defined as 2+ hour concerts, then more bands should be more serious.
  

Back to the concert. After scoring floor tickets on eBay for a whopping $5.50 (yes, the decimal is in the correct place), to say I was even more hopped up for "An Evening with My Morning Jacket" would be an understatement. They blazed a trail by opening with "Evil Urges" and "Anytime" and followed that son of a bitch for almost 2 1/2 hours. Songs from Evil Urges (which admittedly took me awhile to truly appreciate) came off even better live. Jim James and Carl Broemel have the harmonizing guitar thing down to a science and the whole band just feeds off of each other. Best part is that they waste very little time - Jim James kept his comment to a minimum and they just roll from one song to the next. Efficiency at its best!

SETLIST: Evil Urges, Anytime, Off The Record, Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.1, Two Halves, Golden, Thank You Too!, I'm Amazed, The Way That He Sings, Sec Walkin, War Begun, Phone Went West, Cobra, Librarian, Dondante, Gideon, Lay Low, Steam Engine

ENCORE: Wordless Chorus, Highly Suspicious, Smokin From Shootin, Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.2, Run Thru, One Big Holiday