Bluegrass Revival

I've been thinking alot about the state of Kentucky in recent days. After all, the men's team just named John Calipari as their new coach (great move), I just watched a bio on Muhammed Ali (the Louisville Lip) and last week made an ill-fated effort to hit up a new tapas place in Bondi called Rum Jungle (presumably named after Lousiville's own HST). But the appreciation for all things bluegrass allows me to take part in what could be considered one of many dream jobs. It reminds me to provide an abridged version of a concert review from Kentucky's My Morning Jacket. For those of you that don't know MMJ, they have been on the scene for about seven years now. Placed under the genre of jam band (apparently for their preponderence of facial hair and long hair), they have evolved over the years and made their way into "Indie" (which I suppose is an upgrade), but have kept their jammy roots. Their 2008 release, "Evil Urges" dispelled any remnance of noodling jamsters and put them into the American music mainstream.

When you hear of a band playing in Sydney, it brings on two reactions: awesome! because good bands come along every time Uconn makes the Final Four...and great, this show will only be 150% more expensive than I'm used to seeing them. Nevertheless, when I found out there were still tix available for this show in January, I was both shocked and estatic. While they may not be as known to Sydneysiders, this show would sell out in hours in cities such as Boston, New York or SF. The band was in town to support Neil Young, another concert they would've been great, but through-the-roof expensive.

I hit up the concert with friends James and Marina, who are just the folks to appreciate a great show like this. After reliving their trip to Cambodia and Laos, we headed over to The Metro, an intimate but sizable venue right in CBD. As the band took the stage, the crowd reacted with a revelry of a highly respected act. I've seen this reaction with the likes of Wilco. These are bands that people rock out to, but respect and admire, in part because the critics do the same. Leader of MMJ, Jim James, is a 21st Century rock hero - bearded, enigmatic, wears a cape and loves to dabble in various music forms. OK, he's any rock hero, but doesn't appear to be self-serving in his stage approach. Like a good team at Kentucky, he's a captain, and knows he needs a good support system every night.

One of the great aspects about thir Metro performance is that they played like it was their biggest (or last) performance ever. The amazing thing about the band is that's how they appraoch EVERY show. The band's earnesty and urgency is heard through the voice of James, guitar work of Tom Blankenship/Carl Broemel, organ of Bo Koster and frenetic drumming of Patrick Hallahan. Without going into a song-by-song synopsis, the January 22 gig was a sublime mix of new and old, timid and rocking, standard and improvisational, familiar and even more familiar. Each song seemed perfectly placed, and the crowd energy grew as the show progressed. To make matters more interesting, the venue was a sweatbox and after the first set, it looked like we emerged from Fitness First in flannel shirts.

The extended encore was a microcosm of the show at large: mix of the old and new, but all wonderfully played and appreciated by a spirited audience. The show closed with a 2004 hit, "One Great Holiday," which I first remember hearing on the tragically defunct Indie 103.1. Between the nostalgia factor and ability to drive the audience into a frenzy, this was the cherry on top of what I consider to be one of the best shows I've ever been to. My proof of attendance lies in a miniature camera phone pic, and if Sony Ericsson could make things easier, I'd provide that.

Great job boys, you earned some Kentucky moonshine tonight.