Concert Review: My Morning Jacket: Live at the Sloss Furnace, Birmingham, AL June 3, 2005.

As I contemplated my options for Friday night, I could not decide between an Ole Miss baseball regional or a concert in B’ham. Thursday night I decided I would say screw sports as I always say and go the concert 4 and a half hours away. As I watched the clock slowly strike 4:30 on Friday, I tugged at my strangling tie like Ben Stiller ripping the neck of his turtle neck sweater on Meet the Parents and sprinted for the door in my black shiny lofers. You would have thought I was a kid who was exiting his church clothes to go play neighborhood football. As I tore the rest of my out of character office clothes off, I threw on my vintage shirt and flip flops. My metamorphous was as drastic as the skinny clean shaven young man’s who turns into the Incredible Hulk. As I sped towards Birmingham, excitement rushed over me. I was on my way to see Jim James and the boys. I discovered My Morning Jacket back in 03' as I was hastily flipping the pages of The Daily Mississippian in Oxford, MS. I read a rather thorough review on the boys from Kentucky to discover they sounded as if they would fit the mold I long to seek in a band. Anyway, I left at 4:30 and made it there by 9 ensuring that somewhere along the way my mp3 player would not ruin my coolness in forcing me to listen to the band the day of the concert. (This tradition was later corrupted by one of my best friend’s girlfriends ha ha just kidding KTP). Meanwhile back at the ranch, we pulled up to this poorly named venue called the Sloss Furnace. I was about to be surrounded by best friends to see MMJ. (it doesn’t get any better). As Jim approached the stage, we were shocked to see ole Jim had chopped off all of his hair. (For those who aren’t familiar he previously had hair down to his crack and looked like Cousin It on the Addams Family.) He now looked like a young prince with hair only Charlie Chandler would die for. However, I must admit it did take away from his rocking. Previously he would swing his hair as he head banged and one could be confused they were at Pantera or Metallica show. But oh well at least we can see his face now. Aside from the poor acoustics in the venue, the show was as always amazing. We just went to the front so we could hear better. The crowd was amazing, the place was packed, and the jacket was rocking. MMJ can put on a show like no other. A few highlights: They opened with a new song which sounded incredible despite my bias. To name a few others: "The Way He Sings", "O the One is Real", "Run Thru", "Golden", "At Dawn", "Bermuda Highway" (although corrupted with feedback), "The Bear". Jim also came out and played Lou Reed’s "This Magic Moment" with only an omni-chord which was pretty cool. He said he used this on some songs on the new album due out in September. It almost sounded like a Postal Service beat in the background. Sounds promising. The highlight in my opinion was the last song which was "Mahgeeta". The crowd went nuts, and I don’t think there was a stationary foot or head in the whole place. As for me, I had to wake up the next morning and drive to Monroe, LA. You couldn’t have wiped that shit-eatin’ grin off my face with sandpaper. I had chosen wisely.