My Morning Jacket

Last night Shrimp Cracker and I checked out My Morning Jacket a.k.a. The Future Of Rock and Roll. I don't know if that is really a true signature for the band, but I overheard more than a few people use that term or something like it to describe MMJ throughout the show. Then again I also saw a bunch of former frat-like boys getting wasted and touching each other more than the dudes on my old block in Chelsea.
Shrimp Cracker has seen the band a couple of times, while I have never, so I thought I'd type of my fresh take on MMJ live.
First off, the band's sound guy deserves a slap on the back. The quality of the sound was excellent, making me realize how many other bands I like just don't give a shit about that department. The last show I remember attending with such great sound quality was Wilco (the other futures of Rock and Roll) at Radio City and I thought that was a mixture of their dedication to every thing being spot on and the venue. The Roseland, on the other hand is not known for its acousticsm though last night they were phenomenal.
Next, My Morning Jacket has a sick lighting set-up. From white's illuminating them to strobes blasting all around the stage to bulbs set up in the drum kit. It made the show much more entertaining to hear these guys rock out while watching a rainbow of insanity.
The show began with a white sheet covering the stage and going on up to the ceiling of Roseland. The band emerged one by one and their shadows on the sheet were all that could be seen. Seeing a hairy guy with a V-Neck guitar spread legged and thirty feet tall is fucking impressive. Seeing four hairy guys, three spreadlegged, one looking like Animal from the muppets on the drums, all thirty feet tall is awesome and a great way to rock out a show.
The music, the only thing not touched on, was not bad, but sometimes their canned jams could be telegraphed. The band rocks out when they want to rock and that is fun to watch. The one thing I would really change or recommend to them is the pacing in the setlist. A twelve minute song with the last few minutes a mid-tempo jam should not be followed by another mid-tempo or a slower tune. They lost a bunch of people in the audience near me, and myself and Shrimp Cracker by clustering a bunch of these songs together. What this meant was segments of the show where there were a bunch of rockers which was sweet and made me wish later on there were more.
I've heard remarks that MMJ are a one trick pony. That the reverb on the vocals and drums pisses some off, is probably a good thing because it has nothing to do with the song-writing and gives them a patent sound. And as Shrimp Cracker aptly remarked, it's easy to talk shit about these guys, but really what's the point because if they are to be the future of rock and roll (which they are not only because they are the present of rock and roll) they aren't bad at all and canned jams aside, they put on a good rock show and have fun doing so. In a couple of years, after releasing a few more albums these guys will be putting on top notch live shows when they have the songs to fill out a set.