My Morning Jacket at the Uptown, 8/18/08

An Evening With My Morning Jacket

Date: August 18th, 2008

Venue: The Uptown Theater

By RICHARD GINTOWT

Highly suspicious, was I, of My Morning Jacket’s first visit to Kansas City.

Like most folks, I suspect, I became a fan of the band because of At Dawn, It Still Moves and Z – three great albums that dwarf the rest of the band’s hit-and-miss early catalog. The group’s newest LP Evil Urges is a more dicey affair, balancing clear-cut gems like “I’m Amazed” with weirdo numbers like “Highly Suspicious.” Actually that’s the only weirdo song on there, but equally disappointing are the pseudo-Cat Stevens ditties like “Librarian” and “Sec Walkin” (which I always imagine is about to bust into “Viva Viagra!” at the chorus).

I’m being picky here, of course – MMJ is still a great band. It’s just that the instant karma of It Still Moves seems to have been partially stunted by an effort to make some kind of “look at all the crazy shit we can do” statement. But these guys have a reputation as one of the best live acts in the biz, and I had every reason to believe last night’s show would vindicate them.