{"id":1032,"date":"2021-01-28T00:19:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T00:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/?p=1032"},"modified":"2026-06-28T01:02:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T01:02:37","slug":"my-morning-jacket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/?p=1032","title":{"rendered":"My Morning Jacket"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

March 2007, 40 Watt, Athens, Ga.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the 37-year existence of the 40 Watt there have been an innumerable run of stunning shows, some legendary at the time, some after the fact. A room that helped foster local bands such as Pylon, R.E.M., Drive-By Truckers, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Whigs, of Montreal (among others) has also hosted Nirvana, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Husker Du \u2014 you get the idea.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been going to the Watt for decades and seen my share of historic shows, but the My Morning Jacket proms in 2007 have to go down as one of the venue\u2019s crowning moments. A band of My Morning Jacket\u2019s stature at that time doesn\u2019t play in venues the size of the 40 Watt \u2014 it simply doesn\u2019t. But the band did because it was the 40 Watt, and what it left behind only burnished the status of both the venue and the band.<\/p>\n

I went for night two of the prom, and the crowd was decked out in tuxes, gowns and costumes of all sorts while the Watt was covered with streamers to accompany its usual array of lights and disco balls. An Under-the-Sea banner hung behind the stage \u2014 the theme for the prom no doubt inspired by Back to the Future<\/em> \u2014 and fishing nets were set about the place. There were balloons and a photo lab for prom pictures. All that was needed was the night\u2019s entertainment.<\/p>\n

They came out in colored tuxes \u2014 blue, pink, orange (two wore this color), red \u2014 and went right into \u201cOne Big Holiday\u201d from It Still Moves<\/em>. Jim James, the band\u2019s dynamic lead vocalist and guitarist, decked out in a pink tuxedo, took center stage and showcased his spirited singing and dazzling guitar playing. The band had four albums to its name in 2007, yet It Still Moves<\/em> and 2005\u2019s Z<\/em> remained in the public\u2019s mind. Z<\/em> brought a bigger audience to MMJ, and the band\u2019s appearances at Bonnaroo, Coachella and Lollapalooza had it set up as an it band of the moment.<\/p>\n

The main set was filled with many of these great songs \u2014 \u201cGideon,\u201d \u201cLowdown,\u201d \u201cOff the Record,\u201d \u201cLay Low, Dondante,\u201d \u201cDancefloors\u201d. The crowd was packed, which can get ornery in the Watt, but wearing costumey prom wear (I was in an all-white tux) made the overall feeling one of delight and anticipation.<\/p>\n

As the encore began, James introduced the king and queen of the prom, then struck into the Clapton ballad \u201cWonderful Tonight,\u201d which is honestly the best prom night song ever, in a cheesy \u201970s sort of way. That the band then played a riotous \u201cOh What A Night,\u201d followed by an excellent \u201cJohnny B Goode\u201d cover (that whole Back to the Future<\/em> thing again) which had the place in full party mode. MMJ went back into its material, with \u201cGold\u201d and \u201cAnytime\u201d before the band\u2019s best song \u2014 \u201cRun Thru\u201d \u2014 tore the place up.<\/p>\n

Run Thru electrified the room in ways I couldn\u2019t imagine. The opening guitar riff is signature Jim James, and as the white light beamed low to high, the band appeared lost in sound as it neared the end of what was a magical two-night stint. I think bands, once they become big, don\u2019t mind the intimacy of a smaller place after playing arenas, which can distance them from the audience. For these shows, My Morning Jacket was right on top of the crowd, and the loudness emanating from the floor was easily felt by the five on stage. \u201cRun Thru\u201d was a cathartic release for everyone.<\/p>\n

But there was one song left, and it had to be \u201cCrimson and Clover\u201d. I remembered my proms, back in the \u201980s, as times of fun, uncertainty, a little bit of fighting with some alcohol and possible scandalous behavior. But this was, without a doubt, the best prom I ever attended, with some of the best live moments I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 2007, 40 Watt, Athens, Ga. In the 37-year existence of the 40 Watt there have been an innumerable run of stunning shows, some legendary at the time, some after the fact. A room that helped foster local bands such as Pylon, R.E.M., Drive-By Truckers, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Whigs, of Montreal (among others) has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[45,196],"class_list":["post-1032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concerts","tag-40-watt","tag-my-morning-jacket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1032"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1034,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032\/revisions\/1034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}