My Morning Jacket- Riverside Theater 6/20/15

photo taken from second row by Will Piper

My Morning Jacket is the best actively touring rock band out there.  Period.  That is a very bold thing for me to say, and I know it, but after their performance at the Riverside Theater before a sold-out audience on Saturday night, I think that most fans in attendance would agree with me.

As a fan of "The Jacket" since their breakthrough album It Still Moves came out in 2003, I've had the chance to see Jim James and company's steady rise.  What makes the band so great is their constant evolution in their performance.  Earlier shows played around more with vocal distortion and strobe lights amid more succinct renderings of their songs.  Later shows, including the band's past two "Spontaneous Curation" tours include set-lists that vary nightly and allow for fan input and requests on social media.  Their last stop in Milwaukee at the BMO Harris Pavillion in July of 2012, was my favorite concert of the year that year, and I recall writing about The Jacket was at the height of their powers.

Fast forward three years, and with a return-to-form album, this year's The Waterfall, in tow, and The Jacket might be at their best yet.  This summer the band is playing multiple venues for multi-night residencies, including the beautiful Riverside Theater.

For their first night, The Jacket opened with the lead-off track off of The Waterfall,  "Believe," and proceeded to enter a nearly two and a half-hour jam fest.  The band seamlessly flowed songs into one another, with fluid transitions, much like you'd expect when seeing an act like Phish or Widespread Panic in their late 90's prime.  "Circuital," rolled into "Evil Urges," "Only Memories Remain," jammed into "I Will Sing You Songs," and then into "The Way that He Sings," and my set highlight, "Dancefloors."  The always powerful, "Steam Engine," rolled into the rarer track, "The Bear."  The Jacket's light show clearly is the band's sixth member, and created nothing short of a glorious tapestry of lights to go along with each of the numbers.

While often dubbed, "the indie rock jam band," My Morning Jacket showcased their musical prowess and improvisational skills like never before in the first night of their Milwaukee run.

Setlist from Setlist.Fm

1. Believe (Nobody Knows) 
2. Circuital 
3. Evil Urges 
4. Wordless Chorus 
5. It Beats 4 U 
6. Like A River 
7. I'm Amazed 
8. Outta My System 
9. Tropics (Erase Traces) 
10. Only Memories Remain 
11. I Will Sing You Songs 
12. The Way That He Sings 
13. Dancefloors 
14. Lay Low 
15. Encore:
15. Wonderful (The Way I Feel) 
16. Steam Engine 
17. The Bear 
18. In Its Infancy (The Waterfall) 
19. Victory Dance 
20. Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2 
21. One Big Holiday
    

    

    photo courtesy of Gigshots by Stephen Bloch