My Morning Jacket has a way of bringing out the nicest and most fun-loving crowds: Cordial bros, tie-dye hippies and crop-top mamas, all dancing their asses off with the most joyful, head-scratch-inducing moves you've ever seen. The Spin was looking forward to an evening of psychedelic Soul Train antics to go along with MMJ's Southern slightly jammy sweetness, and Friday's show with Margo Price at Ascend Amphitheater didn't disappoint.
With the sun falling behind her, Margo and her fabulous band set the stage for a beautiful evening. They played seven songs from Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, plus the new tune “Weakness.” The crowd, still searching for their seats, remained chill through most of the set, but the hip-dipping groove of "Tennessee Song" seemed to shake folks out of their humidity-borne sleepiness.
By the time MMJ — the group that first put Louisville, Ky.'s rock scene on the map almost two decades ago — was ready to kick off its set, the audience was much more animated.
"Nashville is home to many of us [in the band], so for us Nashville is a hometown show,” said frontman Jim James, clad in a suit jacket and sunglasses. The packed house roared in approval, and the group ripped into a 20-song set of familiar favorites, with highlights including “I’m Amazed,” “Phone Went West,” “Wordless Chorus” and “One Big Holiday.”
Maybe it was the occasional plume of skunky smoke drifting through the crowd. Maybe it was the gorgeous and dreamy night after a few days of disgusting rain. Maybe it was just the opportunity for a respite from the fucked-up episode of The Americans that our national news cycle seems to have turned into. But everywhere we looked, we saw smiling faces blissed out in the sea of sound, and every so often we just closed our eyes and smiled, soaking it in.
We'll bet nobody at the show was happier than a young man whom we dubbed Eric the Accountant. Dressed in a checkered button-up, sensible shoes and belted khakis, he looked like he'd come straight to the show from the office. But the work week was over, and Eric was ready to get the hell down. Anyone who got within five feet of him was guaranteed a mighty high-five, and he whirled and shimmied like a man possessed.
By the midpoint of MMJ’s set, Eric was untucked, unbuttoned and unabashed, raising his hands to worship the full moon that hung low in the sky. And when James & Co. rocketed into “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2,” Eric just couldn’t take it anymore. He ripped his shirt off, swung it around it over his head a few times and tucked it into his pocket. Slack-jawed and seemingly unable to pull words from the smoking crater of his mind, he shot intense looks at his new friends in the seats around him, relying on their shared experience of the performance to fill in the blanks.
Some of our companions posited that Eric was partaking of something heavier than Bud heavy. But with or without psychotropic enhancements, he was clearly high on the chance to shake off a shitty week, and his unbridled rocking embodied the wavelength we felt like the whole venue was on.
Our only disappointment of the night was that MMJ didn’t play the infectious and delightful “Highly Suspicious” from Evil Urges — we knew in our hearts that Eric would have lost his belt and pants and levitated up to the stage and into James’ arms during that one. May we all be a little more like Eric the Accountant at a rock ’n’ roll show: dancing like everyone is watching, but not caring; high-fiving strangers you just know you're gonna be friends with; and soaking up the good stuff in life without abandon.
Check out our slideshow for more photos.
In The Spin — the Scene's live review column — staffers and freelance contributors review concerts under a collective byline.
