Review: My Morning Jacket Conjures Up Bonaroo Magic on New Album

MY MORNING JACKET
MMJ LIVE VOL. 3: BONNAROO 2004 (RETURN TO THUNDERDOME)
(ATO)
4 out of 5 stars

The cliché “you had to be there” often applies to live performances that raise an artist’s songs to new and sometimes unexpected heights. That has been true with headliners as varied as Bob Marley, the Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, Talking Heads, and many others whose concert recordings elevated their commercial reach far past what even those acts’ impressive studio albums accomplished. 

Kentucky’s My Morning Jacket realizes the magic conjured on stage is only partially reflected in their catalog over the past quarter century. The CD/DVD Okonokos appeared first in 2006, chronicling MMJ’s 2005 tour. Over the past few years, additional shows have been made available from different eras. This one, captured before the outfit notched major acclaim, dates to 2004. Like the others, it’s only available on vinyl and digital download.

The Bonnaroo presentation finds MMJ igniting on an assortment of catalog items (and one then-unreleased track), while a thunderstorm—referenced in the disc’s title—was brewing, infusing extra gravitas and drama to music already overflowing with those qualities. The nine songs bubble, boil and blast off through a 75-minute trawl. Five tunes revisit It Still Moves (2003); four are from At Dawn (2001). There’s one rarity (“Cobra”), and the wonderful “It Beats 4 U,” scheduled for breakthrough Zin 2005, gets an early airing.

MMJ’s sound is difficult to define. Their mix of prog, country, blues, and rock doesn’t adhere to any single genre. Frontman Jim Jones’ keening, often dreamy vocals infuse mystery and mysticism into selections that alternately float and sting. This is amplified for the live experience resulting in the group gelling while winding through a set that culminates in a rousing 13-minute version of It Still Movestrack“Steam Engine.” 

Although no single gig can break a band, this one has attained revered status as one of MMJ’s finest. Perhaps you had to be there to soak in the full experience, but this immaculately produced document gets you as close as possible.      

Photo courtesy of Big Hassle Media