Nearing three decades as a band, My Morning Jacket have arrived at a rare career plateau: the sustainable-without-superstardom status. Since breaking through in 2005 with the critically-acclaimed Z album, the band has worked hard to build its reputation as a dynamic live act, hitting the festival circuit hard and ingratiating itself across a broad spectrum of rock fandom. It’s mostly jam bands in this category, touring relentlessly, easily able to mix up their setlists night after night because all that jamming means fewer songs. They don’t need to be a record-label force because the jam-band audience comes pre-installed, whether for the party or for the grooves. My Morning Jacket, like their closest musical brethren Wilco, might jam a little, but they’re song-based groups that still release albums that critics and fans eagerly await. Very few bands going today are comparably imposing on both these fronts.
Artists at this level have two choices when playing live: either focus on “the hits” night after night, or keep digging through their ever-growing catalogs to keep fans guessing. My Morning Jacket are in the latter camp, at least for the current tour, conveniently titled “is” after the band’s new album, released last month. Friday night at Riverside Theater was the 11th date and the 11th different opener: “Run Thru,” a rich, bluesy dirge off their celebrated 2003 album It Still Moves. As a unique bonus, they sandwiched the mellower “Run It” smoothly inside two halves of “Run Thru,” with frontman Jim James ad-libbing some lyrics about the Milwaukee River, a recurring theme for the night.
After dabbling in most available rock-based genres, MMJ has settled into a muscular blend of psych and Southern rock for the most part, but the new album definitely reaches back to the punchy indie rock of Z at times. Latest single “Half A Lifetime” worked great as a settling-in tune and jived well with Z nugget, “Wordless Chorus,” the only repeat MMJ would play from its previous Milwaukee visit in 2023. They followed it up with a rare B-side from the same era, “How Could I Know,” an impressive number of fans singing along.
“Feels good to be back in oooold Milwaukee, where they treat you right,” James declared prior “Golden.” Although the Louisville group got its start in the Americana/alt-country field, this would be one of the few instances of acoustic strumming, and they followed with the twangy deep cut “X-Mas Curtain,” staying in the old-school flow. Then a tour debut of “What A Wonderful Man” kicked off a rollicking stretch including the beloved oldie “Dancefloors,” a Grateful Dead-ish tune that showcased the full power of the quintet, James cavorting gleefully around the stage as the band rocked.
Lead guitarist Carl Broemel didn’t take a lot of flashy solos but he led the band to a fiery climax on this tune, then took more of a backseat for one of the night’s centerpieces, “River Road.” They invited their opening act, Grace Cummings, onstage at this point, and atop the song’s moody two-chord sway, she and James began trading verses of AC/DC’s “Ride On.” The Aussie singer/songwriter had played to a very chatty crowd earlier with her own band, but she seemed to win most fans over in the long run, and her powerful voice did justice to Bon Scott in a way James surely never could’ve. It was an utterly captivating mashup.
The band dusted off more rarities late in the set: “Remnants” off 2008’s Evil Urges, and “Come Closer,” from a 2002 split EP with Songs: Ohia. Combined with the rather slight “I Can Hear Your Love,” this might’ve amounted to a major lull had it not been for James’ infectious presence on the stage. He was in terrific voice all night, improvising falsetto interludes between songs, seemingly unable to contain his enthusiasm for being where he was. MMJ is a more-than-competent rock band to be sure, but this was the Jim James show through and through—his songs, his energy.
The entire band’s energy was undeniable, though, on the brilliant “Off The Record” and a rousing “Holdin On To Black Metal,” the crowd almost drowned out the band doing all the vocal parts. Then to close the set, another of their most beloved oldies, “Phone Went West,” only following an initial surge, the rest of the band fell away, a spotlight hit James, and he started singing the Velvet Underground’s “I Found A Reason.” The band rejoined after a minute and slowly built this first-time cover into the hugest peak of the night as if it were their own song.
There have been lots of surprise covers on the tour already, and fans’ excitement must be off the charts as they see these setlists roll out. James has already promised no repeats at multi-night runs, and the tour stretches into November at this point. While the covers were major highlights of Friday’s show, the abundance of great MMJ originals stood out just as much—those they played, and those they might play at the next show.