Festivals

Sometimes it feels like we’re playing to a crowd of people who’ve never seen us before, and they’re confused at first but then we get everybody in. And then sometimes it feels like we’re playing a normal show, mostly just our fans, so it just depends on the festival. I feel like in Austin, usually we play for people that at least have heard of us, but it’s kind of up to the music gods sometimes.

- Bo Koster, talking about playing Austin City Limits festival
(Austinist interview, September 2011) 

Through the years My Morning Jacket has attended quite a few festivals, view the most recent ones below this post, or sort through them by festival or click any specific in the list.

Big Day Out ------------- Bonnaroo -------------- Coachella -

-----FIB ----------------- Field Day ------------ Langerado


Lollapalooza

------ Outside Lands ---------- Pemberton --------- Summer Sonic ----

SXSW --------------- Voodoo

List by year
Coming soon...

2007
Langerado (March)

The Voodoo Experience/Voodoo Fest (2010)

"The air is so thick with magic."

- Jim James, on stage at The Voodoo Experience
(Nola.com, November 2010)

Photo from the official twitter.

Voodoo Experience also commonly referred to as Voodoo and Voodoo Fest is a multi-day music and arts festival in New Orleans, Louisiana that was originally held on Halloween weekend in 1999, it has since moved between the weekend before Halloween and Halloween weekend throughout the years. The festival returned to Halloween weekend in 2009

On June 21st, 2010, it was announced that another headlining act to be added to the bill was My Morning Jacket.

On October 31st My Morning Jacket performed at the Voodoo Experience.

Photo from the official twitter

Before the show James announced that the Voodoo date would be his band’s final show for some time (Nola.com).

Gulf Restoration Network at Voodoo Fest

"The Gulf Restoration Network is committed to uniting and empowering people to protect and restore the natural resources of the Gulf Region for future generations. The Gulf of Mexico will continue to be a natural, economic, and recreational resource that is central to the culture and heritage of five states and several nations. The people of the region will be stewards of this vital but imperiled treasure, and assume the responsibility of returning the Gulf to its previous splendor."

(The Gulf Restoration Network)

The Gulf Restoration Network held a news conference the final afternoon of the festival to raise awareness about the Gulf Coast oil spill. R.E.M., a former Voodoo headliner, and My Morning Jacket are joining forces with other bands to spread the word with the slogan, "No coast, no music." (The Daily Reveille)

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival (2010)

Photo of the setlist, from the band's official twitter

The Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is a music festival held annually in San Francisco, California at Golden Gate Park.

On the 14th of August 2010 My Morning Jacket performed at The Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.

Tonight I Want To Celebrate With You, Outside Lands 2010

Patrick Hallahan eats Korean Taco

One Big Holiday, Outside Lands 2010

IFC Outside Lands interview

Hangout Music Festival (2011)

Setlist from the official Tumblr

On Friday May 21st 2011 My Morning Jacket performed at the Hangout Music Festival, Gulf Shores, Alabama. The band performed on the Surf Style Stage in the 7-8:30 PM slot.

"It feels good to climb back onto the horse with ya’ll tonight!"

- Jim James
(Hangout Music Festival, May 2011)

Langerado (2007)

My Morning Jacket at Langerado Music Festival 2007, photo by Tyler Machado

On the 10th of March 2007, day two of the festival, My Morning Jacket performed at the Langerado Music Festival. The festival was an annual music festival, taking place in early spring in South Florida, first organized in 2003.

A taping of the performance can be found at the Live Music Archive.

Carl Broemel at Langerado Music Festival 2007, photo by Tyler Machado

Setlist from the MMJ archive
1. One Big Holiday
2. What A Wonderful Man
3. Dancefloors
4. Lowdown
5. Lay Low
6. Wordless Chorus
7. Phone Went West
8. Cobra
9. Golden
10. The Way That He Sings
11. Dondante
12. Gideon
13. Off The Record
14. Run Thru
15. They Ran
16. Bermuda Highway
17. Steam Engine
----------
18. Mahgeetah
19. Anytime

Big Day Out Festival, Gold Coast, Australia (2009)

Tom Blankenship, Carl Broemel, Bo Koster and Jim James on Big Day Out, photo by kathleenjoyful

The Big Day Out (BDO) is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994. As of 2003, it has featured seven or eight stages (depending on the venue) accommodating popular contemporary rock music, electronic music, mainstream international acts and local acts.

My Morning Jacket performed in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Auckland.

On January 18, My Morning Jacket performed at Gold Coast, Australia. Setlist included Mahgeeta, Evil Urges, Off The Record, Gideon, Golden, I'm Amazed, Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.2, Wordless Chorus, Highly Suspicious, Anytime and One Big Holiday.

On January 22, My Morning Jacket performed at The Metro in Sydney, Australia. Setlist included It Beats 4 U, Evil Urges, Off The Record, I'm Amazed, The Way That He Sings, Lowdown, Librarian, Highly Suspicious, Mahgeetah, Anytime and One Big Holiday. A taping of the show can be found and downloaded at The Steam Engine.

Short interview and video of Highly Suspicious performed at The Metro in Sydney, Australia

SXSW (2008)

South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States. SXSW first began in 1987 and is centered on the downtown Austin Convention Center. Each of the three parts runs relatively independently, with different start and end dates.

On the 13th March 2008 My Morning Jacket performed at SXSW.

Setlist

1. “Evil Urges”
2. “Off the Record”
3. “Gideon”
4. “Highly Suspicious”
5. “What a Wonderful Man”
6. “I’m Amazed”
7. “Thank You Too”
8. “Golden”
9. “Sec Walkin’”
10. “Wordless Chorus”
11. “Way He Sings”
12. “Aluminum Park”
13. “One Big Holiday”
14. “Run Thru”
15. “Smokin’ From Shootin’”
16. “Touch Me Pt. 2″
17. “Steam Engine”
18. “Lay Low”
19. “Mahgeetas”
20. “Anytime”

Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (2008)

On the 19th of July My Morning Jacket performed at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim. The festival (commonly abbreviated as FIB) is an annual music festival which takes place in the port town of Benicasim, Valencian Country in Spain.

Evil Urges, performed at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim

My Morning Jacket, at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, talking about pools

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (2008)

Bo Koster and Jim James, photo by whittlz

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four day music festival. On June 13th 2008, the band performed for the fifth time at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, they performed a near four hour set on Which Stage, starting at midnight on Friday. The performance featured guest appearances by Kirk Hammett of Metallica and comedian Zach Galifianakis, as well as the Nashville-Louisville horns.

My Morning Jacket, photo by whittlz

In an interview with the New York Post published on October 10th James explained that during this festival the band attempted to play every song in their catalog.

"We were told to play as long as we wanted. We knew we had to make it special, so our desire was to play everything we ever recorded."

- Jim James

(New York Post interview, October 2010)

However, according to the same interview, the band is not that fond of the sun and as the five-hour mark neared, the sun came up and the band called it quits. Thirty-five songs were performed during the marathon set though, including many covers (e.g. Erykah Badu's Tyrone, Kool and the Gang's Get Down on It, Sly and the Family Stone's Hot Fun in the Summertime, James Brown's Cold Sweat, Bobby Womack's Across 110th Street, Funkadelic's Hit It and Quit It, Velvet Underground's Oh! Sweet Nuthin, and Mötley Crüe's Home Sweet Home), and all but two tracks (Look at You and Remnants) of Evil Urges.

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Interview with My Morning Jacket

A taping of the performance can be found at the Live Music Archive.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (2008)

Patrick Hallahan, Carl Broemel, Tom "Two-Tone Tommy" Blankenship, Coachella Festival, photo by ivankay

On the 27th of April My Morning Jacket performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. M. Ward appeared as a guest during the performance.The festival (commonly known as Coachella or Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley.

M. Ward, Coachella Festival, photo by ivankay

The Pemberton Festival (2008)

The Pemberton Festival was a three-day summer music festival inaugurated in 2008. It was held in Pemberton, British Columbia, Canada.

Jim James at the Pemberton Festival, photo by nrtphotos

On the 26th of July My Morning Jacket performed at The Pemberton Festival.

My Morning Jacket at The Pemberton Festival, photo by kweezy mcG

Lollapalooza (2007)

"We rehearsed yesterday and it’s going to be awesome, We’ve got a whole theme going. I think people will be surprised."

- Jim James, backstage at Lollapalooza
(Chicago Tribune, August 2007)

Jim James and Bo Koster at Lollapalooza, photo by Boys Last Shot

Lollapalooza is an annual music festival held in Chicago, Illinois (since 2005).

On Sunday the 5th of August 2007 My Morning Jacket played on the Bud Light Stage at Lollapalooza.

Not just any suits, mind you. Browsing at a thrift store, James came up on five vintage eggplant-shade tuxedos. The CYSO, in turn, sought out similarly colored scrubs, and together they look like Barney Goes to Woodstock. James welcomes the entire orchestra into a massive huddle, a MMJ pre-performance ritual. He whispers a few inaudible words that get everone fired up, the circle breaks with new energy, and the masses begin to mobilize.
http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2007/09/01/my-morning-jacket-line-of-duty/

Clip of What A Wonderful Man He Was, My Morning Jacket at Lollapalooza

Jim James also performed a solo on the Kidz Stage on the 4th.

"I don’t know if [organizers] expected me to get all the kids jumping, but that’s really not my style."

- Jim James, backstage at Lollapalooza
(Chicago Tribune, August 2007)

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (2006)

Sunset at Coachella 2006

The festival (commonly known as Coachella or Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley.

On the 29th of April 2006 My Morning Jacket performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Greenbelt festival (2006)

My Morning Jacket at Greenbelt festival 2006, photo by fidothe

Greenbelt festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown from a Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young Christians to a more secular festival attended by around 21,000 largely non-Christians.

The 2006 Greenbelt festival was held at Cheltenham Racecourse between the 25th - 28th of August and the theme of the year was Redemption Songs.

My Morning Jacket performed at the festival on the 27th of August 2006.

Setlist, photo by markheybo

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (2006)

My Morning Jacket at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, 2006, photo by Jeremiah Garcia

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four day music festival. The 2006 festival ran from June 15-18, the 80,000 tickets available were sold out.

On June 16th My Morning Jacket played at That Tent on Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, this was the fourth time the band played the festival.

Lay Low, My Morning Jacket at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, 2006

Several recordings of the show is available at the Live Music Archive, this one for example.

Track List
Wordless Chorus
It Beats 4 U
What A Wonderful Man
One Big Holiday
Older Guys
Head Held High
Lowdown
The Way That He Sings
Masterplan
At Dawn
Golden
Gideon
Xmas Curtain
Dondante
Dancefloors
Anytime
Mahgeetah
A Quick One
Loving Cup
Attitude
Off The Record
Lay Low
The Dark
The Bear
I Will Sing You Songs
Heartbreakin' Man
Evelyn Is Not Real
It's About Twilight Now
It Makes No Difference
Phone Went West
Run Thru

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (2005)

My Morning Jacket with puppets, Bonnaroo 2005

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four day music festival. The 2005 Bonnaroo Music Festival took place from June 10-12, and more than 75,000 people were in attendance. Like 2004, rain marked each day of the festival.

On June 12th My Morning Jacket played at What Stage on Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, this was the third time the band played the festival. The band had special guest puppets throughout the performance.

A recording of the show is available for purchase at Live Bonnaroo, also there's a free version available at the Live Music Archive.

Track list
Off The Record
The Way That He Sings
O Is The One
One Big Holiday
Golden
Just One Thing
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You
Lay Low
Heartbreakin' Man
Dondante
Run Thru
Bermuda Highway
I Will Sing You Songs
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
Mahgeeta

Summer Sonic (2003)

The Summer Sonic Festival is an annual two or three-days rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and near Tokyo.

On August 2nd 2003 My Morning Jacket performed at the festival.

One Big Holiday at Summer Sonic

Field Day Festival (2003)

On Saturday June 7th My Morning Jacket performed on Stage #2 at Field Day Festival, Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Bright Eyes also played this festival and it was the first time the two bands met.

I'd never seen them live until that Field Day Festival show. I remember it rained. There was a lot of hair flying around onstage, and the rain made it seem that much more intense. We sat on the side of the stage and were just blown away. It was such an uplifting experience. The day to that point had been such a drag. Bright Eyes had played earlier, and everything that could have gone wrong did. We were all in kind of low spirits, but when they took the stage, all that shit went away and all that was left was that pure joy you get from being a part of music.

- Mike Mogis, about meeting Jim James (Yim Yames)
(Blurt Online interview, September 2009)

Jon Pareles for New York Times pointed out that from politics to weather, everything seemed to work against the Field Day Festival, everything except the music and the fans. He also said the following about My Morning Jacket:

"My Morning Jacket, from Louisville, Ky., played wistful folk-rock shading into psychedelia, layering guitars into big, warm, glistening patterns as if the style had just been discovered."

- Jon Pareles, for New York Times

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (2003)

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four day music festival. The 2003 festival ran June 13–15, and 80,000 attended.

On June 13th My Morning Jacket played at That Tent on Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, this was the first time the band played the festival.

Lowdown performed at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, 2003