My Morning Jacket at SXSW 2008, photo by Kyle Matteson"I didn't think there could ever be such a wonderful exchange between bands and an audience. If I could grow five more arms out of my chest, that would be the most incredible thing. I was always taking and not giving back too much. Now I feel the exchange; it's a beautiful thing."- Patrick Hallahan
"We always want our hometown shows to be more of a celebration of Louisville than anything else. Some of Louisville's greatest resources are its independent businesses and non-profit organizations. Please come out and join these groups at the local village to celebrate all things Louisville."- Patrick Hallahan
Setlist photo from the official twitter
Poster"Because MMJ has already played with the Chicago Youth Symphony and the Boston Pops, they already had several songs orchestrated. I took a look at all the charts that had been orchestrated so far and we discussed what we thought would work best for the program that night. Then I suggested that I orchestrate another one, and Jim James asked me to orchestrate a new song, which I did. In the end, we decided on nine songs that LYO would play with the band in their set."- LYO Music Director, Jason Seber
“So many kids fall into their cell phones or video games, all of these empty traps that keep you from real pursuits, because real pursuits are hard, but it's so worth taking the time and having the opportunity to go after something you really want.“I think I speak for all of the guys when I say that music saved our lives. I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for music.”- Jim James
hello all! we here at mmj hq just wanted to extend an invite to everyone to get dressed to impress in your Halloween finest tonight and also come early to visit the local village from 3 until showtime, under the south end of the 2nd street bridge. we are so excited for the show and can't wait to see you there!!!" - MMJLouisville Local Village
“We will try to represent the intimate sound of ‘At Dawn’ and ‘Tennessee Fire’ to some extent, but even back in the day, there was always a difference between our studio versions and our live versions.”- Jim James
"We wanted to hit NYC on this run of touring, but we weren't quite sure what venue to play. But then we got the offer to play five nights at Terminal 5. Until our manager came up with the idea to dedicate each night to a different album, we weren't sold on it. That sounded like a great way to make each night unique and special in its own way instead of the Groundhog Day approach of just playing the same venue for five nights in a row. We're all really looking forward to it. We love playing in NYC."
"It was sort of a mixed bag because it really would be great to be in New York for that long and play in a venue we haven’t been in before. And then, when it was suggested that we do one album for each night, it became interesting because that was something we had never really done before."- Tom Blankenship
"We let our fans know so they could pick what show they would enjoy more, that was easy. Trying to figure out how the hell to play some of the songs I haven’t thought about in ages is not."
Cover of At Dawn
Jim James, At Dawn at Terminal 5, NYC, 2010, photo by Matt Karp
On the 18th of October My Morning Jacket opened its five-show run at New York’s Terminal 5 with a complete rendition of 1999 debut album The Tennessee Fire.
The band played each of the album’s tracks in sequential order, including songs that the band had never performed live like If All Else Fails.
Former guitarist Johnny Quaid, who left the band in 2004, also sat in for a few of the songs and Jim James alternately described the show as a "a psychedelic experience," "surreal" and "a reflecting pool".
The group returned for a seven-song encore that featured several covers and b-sides James and company recorded for its various EPs around the time of The Tennessee Fire. The mini-set opened with I Just Wanted To Say from the group’s holiday EP Does Christmas Fiasco Style and included covers of Elton John’s Rocket Man, Erykah Badu’s Tyrone , The Great Society’s White Rabbits and Rod Stewart’s Hot Legs.
Jim James, on stage in Iowa City
Bo Koster, Patrick Hallahan, Tom Blankenship and Carl Broemel, on stage in Iowa CityAs some of you may have heard we had to cancel our show last evening in Iowa City. We were finishing up the last few bars of "Off the Record", and just like any other night we were all having a great time. Jim went to get closer to the audience on his side of the stage, and as he moved forward to step onto the sub-woofer the lights darkened, and he inadvertently stepped off the stage. Upon falling, he suffered traumatic injuries to his torso, and was immediately taken to the hospital. Per the doctor's orders, Jim will be off the road and recovering from his injuries for the next two to three weeks. Sadly, we must postpone the two shows in Chicago on Thursday and Friday until further notice.In an interview with New York Magazine James and Hallahan commented on the accident.
For those who attended the Iowa City show, we would like to extend our gratitude for your understanding and cooperation. We take our fans and performances very seriously, and would never cancel a show unless it was absolutely necessary. Please know that we will be making every effort to return to your fine city.
Thank you so much to our fans for the kind sentiments and well-wishes on Jim's behalf. We hope for Jim's quick recovery and to be back out on the road soon.
With Love,
My Morning Jacket
"I just fell off the stage. I was going to step onto a speaker between the stage and the crowd, and the lights went out. And instead of my foot landing on the speaker, it just went into the air."- Jim James
"I thought he had jumped out into the crowd, which I had never seen him do. And I thought, holy shit, this is great! I was all proud of him."- Patrick Hallahan
“Think about that the next time you’re out here throwing the frisbee — a part of you is still here with everyone else at this show.”- Jim James, on stage at Waterfront Park(August 2008, from youaintnopicasso)
My Morning Jacket at Radio City Music Hall, photo by Valdina"It’s surreal. And it’s insanely flattering and unbelievable. Definitely unbelievable would be the major thing. I obviously believe in us, but just that anybody really wants to see us that much and that a show would sell out that quickly just blows my mind."- Tom Blankenship
Crowd at Kool Haus June 16th 2008, photo by mailgeoffrey
