Two nights of unpredictability: My Morning Jacket in Philadelphia
My Morning Jacket are in the middle of two worlds right now. The first one, the release cycle of their 2025 record Is. The second, they’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of what may be their most significant record, Z.
(no photos other than a couple snaps from my Z-era point and shoot from Night 1 and my phone from Night 2, apologies!)
Is and Z come from different universes as well – but we wouldn’t have Is if not for what happened around the release of Z. Z was the arrival of Carl Broemel and Bo Koster as My Morning Jacket members. Nothing against the previous members, who also created some of the band’s most beloved records. But Broemel and Koster added so much more musical depth from their presence. It also gave Jim James infinitely more potential to explore his music. On Z, we hear synths, drum machines, and whatever “Into the Woods” is (I say this endearingly as I love that track so much). It’s a sound that expanded even more on Evil Urges, and with each record that came after. James’ songwriting also went from the more introspective, dark songwriting of The Tennessee Fire and At Dawn to big expressions and love. Tracks like “Anytime”, “What a Wonderful Man” and “Gideon” all carry that ethos. And on later albums, like “Love Love Love” on their self-titled, or “Everyday Magic” on Is. Z, and all that happened around it helped James explore the pure joy of creating and performing music.
And that was the theme of My Morning Jacket’s two Philadelphia shows. Fitting for the city of brotherly love. They’ve always shown Philadelphia a ton of love over the years, from the early days at TLA to the legendary 2008 – 2010 shows at Festival Pier and Penn’s Landing (the latter has the greatest “Steam Engine” of all time), to the Mann, and a legendary 2023 run at The Met. It may be the best city to see the Jacket in outside of Louisville. Maybe I’m biased, traveling down to Philadelphia to see them was the first time I visited the city, and I fell in love with it. And now I live here.
Okay, now let’s get on with it and talk about the shows. And for a band both promoting a new record, and celebrating a beloved classic, they did not play it in any way that could be considered predictable.
And to prove that point, they kicked off night 1 with a “Steam Engine” that aaaaaaalmost unseated that Penn’s Landing performance 15 years prior. One hell of a heavy hitter to kick things off. Then into Z‘s “It Beats 4 U”, which is always a crowd pleaser. On to a pair of standards of Jacket sets over the last decade, “In Its Infancy (The Waterfall)” and “Circuital”. Then things started to go off the rails – in a good way. “X-Mas Curtain” from At Dawn into “Mahgeetah”, which had the crowd rockin’ hard, especially during the latter track’s iconic ending. Then a run of a couple of songs from The Waterfall II, before hitting “Half a Lifetime” from Is.
“The Way That He Sings” kicked off a run that’s going to go down among the most legendary in live Jacket history. That song alone is one of James’ greatest songwriting achievements, and it was paired with its At Dawn brother, “Honest Man”. And I don’t think there’s ever been an “Honest Man” quite like that, not just the multiple solos, or James’ vocal performance. It even had ‘Ol Two-Tone Tommy on the ground for a good percentage of it. Then, a track that exists somewhere in the borderlands between At Dawn and Z, “Chills”. A rarity that hadn’t been played for 15 years prior. With many fans up towards the front screaming in shock, one, who has attended over 100 Jacket shows yelling “this was my white whale”. Yeah, that kind of special.
Then they hit the closer of Is, “River Road” which on the record references “Honest Man”, but here, they expanded the ending brilliantly. Another personal side-note, on the record, I feel like so many of the songs on Is, as well as My Morning Jacket really hit their stride just as they’re ending, and seeing these songs live and in person, they expand those endings so far beyond the limitations of an album. It’s happened with them in the past, tracks like “War Begun”, “Picture of You”, “Dondante”, and “Phone Went West” all have grown and evolved over the years, and so many of these are on that trajectory.
Jim’s goofy, endearing, and crowd engaging performance of “Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 1” and “Holding Onto Black Metal” set things up great for an intense pair of tracks from Z. Closing the first set with the double guitar attack ending of “Lay Low” and the so, so, so, so, still relevant “Gideon” was a perfect way to bring the last 20 years full circle. They left the stage, and the audience were woefully unprepared for what was coming next.
On John Prine’s 79th birthday, Jim James came out for the encore by himself, and played a cover of “All the Best”. The rest of the band came out and they launched into “Old Sept. Blues”, which was an emotional and incredible moment. Throwing in “Out in the Open” to break things up, they closed with “Spring (Among the Living)” with a little tease of “Dear Prudence” and maybe the most energetic performance of “Dancefloors” of all time.
The thing about these two night jacket runs, is how do you follow up a legendary show like that? Is it even possible to? In the past, I’ve asked that question, and they have never failed to deliver on a night 2.
And they answered in a big way on Saturday. The show started off, and lulled the audience into a false sense of security. The opening run of “Highly Suspicious”, “Off The Record”, “Climbing The Ladder”, “Love Love Love”, Wordless Chorus”, “Beginning from the Ending”, and “Squid Ink” established that the band was ready to groove and party all night. I accepted this, too, maybe we weren’t going to get some rarities, or dig deep into At Dawn tonight, but we were going to fucking party. And it felt that way until about halfway through “Cobra” – when it all exploded, and in the rubble, “En La Ceremony” appeared. A B-Side from It Still Moves that had never been played live before. We got back to the groove one more time with “Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 2”.
And then, another heavy hitter and rarity, “Oxen / How Could I Know”. Followed up cleverly by “Lemme Know”. Then the run to the end was a completely unpredictable, and maybe even unhinged selection of jacket tunes. The energetic “What a Wonderful Man”, the lighthearted “Everyday Magic” and then, for some reason, in the middle of everything “One Big Holiday” – followed up with a beautiful rendition of “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)”. Yeah, it’s one of those shows. “Outta My System” and “Die for It” set things up nicely for one of the more expansive versions of “Phone Went West” I’ve ever heard.
And forget about my worries of not digging into those first two records, after “Phone”, they left the stage, only Jim and Carl returned for a stunning version of “Bermuda Highway”, with Broemel adding just enough to the atmosphere with his guitar. Then they went into an insanely powerful rendition of “Picture of You”, a forever expanding and shifting ending to that one continues to impress. And there was a bit of a whiplash as they played “Evil Urges” next. They closed the night with “Anytime” off of Z, and it’s a perfect way to put a cap on both evenings. A song about gaining confidence, about learning to express yourself. About moving on, even if it’s felt too long. From those early introspective days, to what they’re doing now, My Morning Jacket have found a way to keep expressing themselves in new ways, and constantly keep moving on. Hell Yeah.
As a long-time fan, I’ve seen the band shift so much, and sometimes in a direction I’m not thrilled with. The last three albums don’t take me where Z, It Still Moves, or At Dawn do. But there’s clearly a fanbase who loves and finds meaning in My Morning Jacket, The Waterfall, and Is. And sometimes you just need a show or two to wrap everything up nicely and remind you, that My Morning Jacket are still one of the best live bands out there.
And the day after, I’m still processing it. “Chills”, “Old Sept. Blues”, “Cobra”, “En La Ceremony”, “Oxen”, “Picture of You”, it just does not seem possible. I was there, and I still can’t believe how much both nights gave to us, both the old fans with show counts into the triple digits, who care about stuff like rarities, and newcomers checking out a legendary live band. They truly lived up to that reputation.
And a huge shoutout to the opener both nights, BALTHVS from Colombia. Talk about unpredictable, their sets on both nights featured covers, groovy jams, surf rock, psych rock, and so much more.
