Not sure how it took me this long to ever attend a My Morning Jacket concert. The groove, the lights, the interaction, the camaraderie. It’s all there. Everything you want to experience in a solid concert. And boy, howdy, this band keeps the energy up during their performance. Their average set time is 2.5 hours. That’s pretty much unheard of these days unless you’re seeing a jam band. And while Louisville-based My Morning Jacket isn’t considered a jam band, they do flirt on the edge of that same type of experience when performing live. The cross of sweet southern rock mixed with some psychedelia makes for catchy, eclectic tunes often filled with emotional highs and lows. After 27 years making music, you’re gonna have hits and misses, but this band has mostly always hit. Seeing them live takes their music to new levels.
On the night before heading to Jazz Fest and the last night on the spring leg of their Is tour (to celebrate their 10th studio album, Is), all members of My Morning Jacket were in fine form.
Shortly after an explosive “Compound Fracture,” frontman Jim James shared, “St Louis metropolitan area [acknowledging the fact that this show was in the suburb of Chesterfield], thank you so much. Half my family comes from St. Louis. I love seeing the Arch. I never forget to rub it for good luck.”
He continued a bit later, saying, in short, “I’ll never forget seeing the arch for the first time. I was a kid. Whenever I see it I’m reminded of people’s vision. It gives me hope when people come together to create something. Maybe we’ll end world hunger someday. Maybe we just need to build more arches. It always gives me hope.”
The band then launched into what started as a stripped-down version of “I’m Amazed” before punching it up into a frenzy.
They easily wove in songs from Is, including the hypnotic, flowing “River Road” and the funky, southern rock-tinged “Everyday Magic.”
After a stellar response to their spring tour announcement, the band has extended their tour to include this summer and fall, so be sure to check them out if you want (or need) a night of grooving, happy dancing, and swaying.
Bendigo Fletcher, also hailing from Louisville, opened the night promptly at 7:30 p.m. with their indie-folk-psych rock to the growing crowd at The Factory. The quintet performed the lovely, soft, sweet “Green Monster” and the jangly, soaring “One Little Drink” among others.
Here’s hoping it doesn’t take me so long to see MMJ in concert again, and here’s hoping you’re able to catch them soon in a city near you.
See all photos from the night: https://bit.ly/MMJ25cz
My Morning Jacket’s setlist at The Factory https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/my-morning-jacket/2025/the-factory-chesterfield-mo-b5ac1ae.html
