MMJ at MSG on NYE!

As you already know, I spent my New Year's Eve at Madison Square Garden for the My Morning Jacket concert.

The band played for over 4 hours, pausing to count down the new year about half way through. The set list included several soulful covers includeing Move on Up, by Curtis Mayfield, You're All I Need (with Nicole Adkins), by Marvin Gaye, and Cold Sweat by James Brown.

I danced so hard up against the seats in the row in front of me, that my thighs are currently covered with bruises. It was a damn good show, but still does not hold a candle to the 4 plus hour rain-choreographed magic show that was Bonnaroo.

Upon leaving the venue, we stopped for drinks at a nearby bar, then headed to another party, when all of a sudden we found ourselves face to face with drummer Patrick Hallahan. I blocked the wind for him, while he lit a cigarette and my friends and I collectively congratulated him on a badass MSG show. We attempted to pass ourselves off as invitees of the after party, but upon initial denial, we decided to walk away without embarassment, and close the night elsewhere.

Such a good night! Here's a video from the night of one of my favorite MMJ songs, Run Thru


There are lots more vids on YouTube, so check em out!

You can stream and/ or dowload the bootlegs from the show HERE. I highly recommend checking it out.

Complete Setlist:
Disc 1/Set 1
1. intro music - What Are You Doing New Years Eve
2. Move On Up (Curtis Mayfield) *
3. Evil Urges *
4. Off The Record
5. Gideon
6. The Way That He Sings
7. Thank You Too
8. I'm Amazed
9. Golden ^
10. Librarian
11. You're All I Need (marvin gaye) * +
12. Express Yourself (charles wright) *
13. Wonderful Man
14. Lay Low
15. Phone Went West
16. Look At You

Disc 2/Set 1(cont):
17. Dondante
18. Smoking from Shootin->
19. Touch Me Part 2->
20. Run Thru
21. The Wanderer (Dion) *
22. Dancefloors *
23. Magheeta

Disc 3/Set 2:
1. new years' countdown
2. Celebration (kool & the gang) *
3. Get Down On It (kool & the gang) *
4. Wordless Chorus
5. Highly Suspicious
6. Cobra
7. Islands in the Stream (Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers) +
8. Bring It on Home to Me (Sam Cooke) *
9. Cold Sweat (James Brown)*
10. Anytime
11. One Big Holiday
12. Auld Lang Syne (sung by Jim James over a prerecorded backing track)
13. outro music - We'll Meet Again

Upcoming concerts!

Yo, check out My Upcoming Events link on the side bar. I just updated it and I'm super pumped about the show's I've got on the horizon.

OH OH OH, and check out Jim James' (My Morning Jacket) message below regarding their New Year's Eve Show at MSG. Soooo excited!!

hello friends and fans of mmj. i would just like to personally thank each and every one of you who have sent kind words or well wishes my way since i had my accident a few weeks back. it has been one of the hardest and strangest times of my life, but your kind words and support have really meant a lot to me and i can feel their healing power! i have been just letting time do its thing, slowly but surely, as the old adage says, and hopefully i'll be back to normal soon. first off, sorry to all of our friends abroad that we had to cancel our european/uk tour. unfortunately the two times i have sustained major injuries on tour, europe was the next thing on our calendar that had to be canceled in order for me to recuperate. we hope to be back over there at some point in the not so distant future to play some musics. we look forward to seeing you soon. second off, we are really excited about the upcoming shows in chicago, australia, and japan - as well as our big new years eve "blacktie blowout" at madison square garden in new york city! we invite and encourage everyone coming to the new years show to "dress to tha nines," in your finest and classiest party wear: suits/tuxedos, frilly dresses/luxurious ballgowns, top hats and canes, 2009 glasses, etc - as we intend to really "class up the joint" and celebrate the monumental year that 2008 was, whilst gazing forward to the thrills and chills that 2009 will hold. i knew when i took my first breath of the air of 2008 that it would be a monumentally crazy year- and phew! that was no joke. as challenging as the year has been there has been a lot of change and positivity in the air...with the rekindling of hope that now and in 2009 we can keep working together to even out the playing field across the board and make the planet a healthier place to live for all of our brothers and sisters in the us and across the globe. its time for some love. here are some links i have found particularly informative over the past few months: http://www.thehungersite.com [http://www.thehungersite.com] http://www.couragecampaign.org/prop8repeal [http://www.couragecampaign.org/prop8repeal] http://www.sweethomeneworleans.org [http://www.sweethomeneworleans.org] http://louisvilleleopardpercussionists.com/index.htm [http://louisvilleleopardpercussionists.com/index.htm] be thankful 4 what you gots: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx72QvLTXOk&feature=related [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx72QvLTXOk&feature=related] have fun, be safe, and we hope to see you soon. - yim yames and my morning jacket

Pearl Jam at MSG in June 2008?

Pearl Jam fans should be aware that we got robbed of our much anticipated fan club annoucement yesterday afternoon, allegedly due to the fact that whatever they were about to tell us had yet to be buttoned down officially. We were assured that we'd get some juicy news (tour?) today, however.

Well, it appears, that not all parties involved in the mystery announcement received the gag order, and by midnight I was receiving phone calls and emails leaking "confirmation" of 2 upcoming Pearl Jam tour dates this June 24 & 25 at Madison Square Garden!

These sources were adament about the veracity and accuracy of said annoucement.

Why am I telling you this if we're going to find out officially in about 4 hours? Because I felt it was my duty, thats why :)

Stay tuned to pearljam.com later today for an official announcement, and here as always for your latest rumor reports!

UPDATE!! Tour Confirmed!

Foo Fighters at Madison Square Garden

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Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Foo Fighters' very first show ever at Madison Square Garden (despite being a band for 13 years!)

The opening bands were a somewhat slow start to what would be an amazing headliner! Against Me, from Gainseville Florida started the night off, with a couple of songs which, in my opinion, had a much more powerful impact on the small outdoor stage at Lollapalooza 2007. Next up was, Serj Tankian, front man from System of a Down, who sounded just exactly like he does with SOAD behind him. He danced around in a white top hat, dropped the C-bomb, and generally freaked out every suburban teenage girl that was there to see the Foos with her 2 best friends and wannabe-cool, middle-aged dad (this I discovered indirectly on the subway ride home).

Then the Foo Fighters came out, with a flash of light, and thunderous cheers from the crowd. As Dave Grohl announced to MSG that it was going to be "a long f*cking night", I recognized immediately that this man was a true rock star! He banged his head, tossing shiney brown locks of hair in every direction, and howeled into the micro phone, tagging exclamations like "aw, shit!" onto original lyrics like only the real deal can! I do not own a single Foo Fighters album, but somehow recognized 98% of last night's 2-hour setlist. Clearly a greatest hits set. For me the highlights included acoustic versions of "My Hero" and "Everlong" which were performed in the middle of the floor on top of a round platform which most of us thought was a trampoline until we noticed that instruments had magically appeared on top of it 45 minutes into the show. Dave introduced everone in the band, including guitarist Pat Smear, who was part of the band's early days, but in recent years has been absent. The band finished off strong with a 3-song encore that ended with "Best of You", accentuated by a shower of napkins and toilet paper which were artfully tossed from the VIP boxes at the top of the Garden. (See below for full setlist)

Overall I was impressed! The endurance of these men was phenomenal! The way Dave ran up and down the long-ass catwalk that traversed almost the entire lenght of the Garden floor, without, it seemed, even the slightest shortness of breath, was more than commendable. The same is true for the energy behind drummer, Taylor Hawkins's, solos which seemed to bang on and on ad infinitum (in a good way). The lighting was great. The sound, of course, was great. And the experience was well worth the $29.50 plus service charge.

Now on to the REAL realization I had last night. Yes, I really enjoyed the show. Yes, I thought it was amazing, high-energy, well-played, etc. But the performance left me with an anxious feeling in my stomach. It was the sort of feeling you get if you're kissing a cute boy, but you are painfully aware that both your heart and your head are with someone else. You can't help but enjoy it. You are, afterall, a human being, but it's just not the same. I miss Pearl Jam.

I sat in my seat way at the top of the Garden and I watched those people on the floor jumping and screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs and I was jealous! Insanely jealous, because for many of them down there, I could tell- recognized the symptoms- Foo Fighters are, to them, what Pearl Jam is to me. And that made me sad. I was craving a connection with a band on that level that the people on the floor last night were experiencing, but there's only one band that makes me feel that way: Pearl Jam. And sadly, my band, is not on tour. Foo Fighters are not who I am in love with, but like any warm blooded music loving lady, I smiled and I accepted the kiss gracefully last night, silently lusting for that which I cannot have at the moment.

"If you can't be, with the one you love, honey, love the one you're with", Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Full Set List for Foo Fighters at Madison Square Garden, February 19, 2008

Courtesy of Foo Fighters Message Board

Let It Die

Pretender

Times Like These

Breakout

Learn To Fly

Cheer Up Boys

This is a Call

DOA

Stacked Actors/Drum Solo

ACOUSTIC SET

Skin N Bones

MariGold

My Hero

Cold Day In The Sun

But Honestly

Everlong

Monkey Wrench

All My Life

ENCORE

Big Me

Long Road to Ruin

Best of You

Stevie Wonder and FRIENDS at MSG!

Saturday I was lucky enough to attend the Stevie Wonder concert at Madison Square Garden. Going into the show, I assumed I was going to get a quality performance from one of Motown's most legendary performers. I also had a hunch that, although there was no opening act, and no guest performers had been previously announced, we would probably be treated to a few surprise guests.

Well, I was right on both accounts! Stevie had the whole place singing to "Ribbon in the Sky", separating the audience into male and female parts which sounded amazing all together! Other highlights included my personal favorite, "Lately", "My Cherie Amour," "Sir Duke," and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life".

Halfway through the set, Stevie stood up to introduce Tony Bennett for a duet on "For Once in My Life", which the two performed on Bennett's 2006 Duets album.

But wait, that's not it! To our complete astonishment, Prince sauntered out to play guitar on "Superstition"!

Seeing Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, and Prince all on the same stage in the same night was incredible, and a night I will never forget!