Play it smart, soul intact

I never really listened much to My Morning Jacket before the release of this year's Circuital. I'd heard some of their albums and liked what I heard, but never really got into them. When I saw them at Bonnaroo in June, I quickly became enamored with their music and overall performing style.

I had the chance to see them again last night here in Cincinnati, performing at the PNC Pavilion with another of my favorite artists Neko Case!

Unfortunately, due to a poor assumption on my part, I missed most of Neko's set. The ticket had a start time of 7:00 PM. I am, however, used to that time being doors open and not when the bands actually start performing. This was not the case here and I arrived just in time to hear her last two songs and neither from my much beloved Furnace Room Lullaby (though all of her albums are great, I shouldn't be picky).

Please come back again soon!

The disappointment of missing the amazing Neko Case quickly dissipated, well...at least partially, when My Morning Jacket came on stage. They started their set with the first two tracks from Circuital, "Victory Dance" and "Circuital", in that order.

I thought for a moment they were going to just play the entire album, but quickly transitioned into songs from their other albums, including "I'm Amazed" and "Highly Suspicious" from Evil Urges, "Off the Record" from Z and "Mahgeetah" from It Still Moves. See the entire setlist here.

The band is just an amazing one to watch. Frontman Jim James (or, Yim Yames) has an incredible voice and an amazing presence. He also has awesome hair, which he spent a lot of time tossing around. And he has a beard, I love beards! Guitarist Carl Broemel (also an amazing solo artist!) is grossly underrated, but has been named among the "New Guitar Gods" by Rolling Stone.

I want to touch your hair!

The drummer, Patrick Hallahan, is just amazing to look at. He's a big guy and has a lot of hair. He also tends to howl at random points during the show. Tom Blankenship, the bassist, is a gorgeous man. I think I spent half the concert staring at his butt.

This is a band that could go all night if they wanted to, but I did not. I cut out after the second song in the encore. As I was walking to my car, they started a duet with Neko Case, a cover of Stevie Nicks' "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." I almost kicked myself for missing Neko again, but the acoustics were actually pretty good from the parking lot. I sat around until that song was done, then left, having thoroughly enjoyed another great concert experience!