My Morning Jacket and Sharon Jones - Gibson Amphitheatre - 12-01-11

By Molly Bergen Fri., Dec. 2 2011 at 9:29 AM

Molly Bergen

My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket and Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings
Gibson Ampitheatre
12-01-11
Better than...any ride at Universal Studios.

Past the gauntlet of Universal City Walk with its seizure-inducing lights, blaring Christmas pop remixes, and downright oppressive wafts of popcorn and cologne, there was a damn fine show last night in the dimly lit confines of the Gibson Ampitheatre.

One couldn't help but notice that right next to an entire neon village dedicated to selling you things based on current marketing trends, two bands performed that have never taken any notice of current musical trends at all. Both of them tapping into a wealth of pure organic human emotion, nothing prepackaged or preprogrammed or researched.

Up first was the formidable funk soul powerhouse Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Due to an unfortunate set-time of 7:45 p.m., the ampitheatre had only a smattering of people who had fought the rush hour traffic early. As soon as Jones took the stage one couldn't help pitying those who were still stuck in their cars or drinking beer outside.

In a black fringed dress with silver sandals strapped to her shoes, Ms Jones commanded your attention from the moment she grabbed the microphone. With a voice ten times her size, she ran the gamut of a relationship issues from seduction to cheating to that uncertain feeling when you're not sure if your lover really loves you back.

Shimmying all over the stage, Ms Jones grabbed one shy young man from out of the crowd and pulled him on stage and serenaded him with "Are You Going To Give It Back." The poor baffled thing just stood there with his hands on his hips, unsure of what to do next, as she tried to dance with him. Eventually either out of boredom or empathy she threw him back. The set was short, sharp, and tightly wound with no room for banter. The sharply dressed Dap-Kings were on stage just long enough to win the reluctant crowd over and then they vanished into the darkness.

A cloud of blue tinted smoke covered the stage as My Morning Jacket went on at nine. The five piece from Kentucky received a warm welcome from the crowd as they launched into a set that included everything from Americana to folk to reggae to gospel to soul to larger than life rock n' roll.

Absorbing genres like a sponge, My Morning Jacket manages to constantly reinvent itself with every album while still remaining recognizably themselves. When Jim James opens his mouth and let's loose his angelic iconic voice there is no doubt what band it is.

Location Info

Venue

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Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk

100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA

Category: General

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live show, Molly Bergen, My Morning Jacket, Review, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings

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Eitleoir

I attended this concert because I was interested in seeing My Morning Jacket after buying a few of their albums. Sharon Jones was awesome and the sound of her band was clear and crisp. In contrast, I was utterly disappointed by MMJ. Their sound was horrible, far too loud and distorted. I saw Squeeze play at the Gibson the previous year and they sounded fabulous, so I don't blame the venue. Plus, I never was at a concert where so many people were talking, which didn't help at all. Folks, do you go to a concert to talk or to listen? I finally moved out of my good seats to the back of the ampitheatre, where it was fairly empty. I never felt that the band engaged the audience at all. When they walked off the stage without even a "thank you," I left. I may have missed a great encore, but by that point I knew that My Morning Jacket were not going to get another dime of my money. I had recently seen Roger Daltrey at the Nokia and he was so appreciate of the fans in attendance. What a difference between him and My Morning Jacket. You'd think that a rock legend would be entitled to not having to worry about paying respect to the audience, but Roger Daltrey couldn't have been more thankful for all the support from his fans over the years. I met a few other concert goers on the way out of Universal who had chosen to leave early. We were all in agreement that it was the worst concert that we had ever seen.

Christopher

Don't know what show the reviewer saw, but the one I saw was terrible. Tech problems from the moment MMJ hit the stage and the sound mix was awful. Sharon Jones' set was great and so was her sound mix. Won't be going back to Gibson Amphitheatre for any shows. Would ask for my money back if I thought I could get it.

overlivenation

Some of us missed Sharon Jones because Live Nation venues apparently can't provide information on their shows. With only "7:45 pm" provided on the tickets and website, we were left to guess whether that was for doors or opening act (or less likely, headliner). Independent music venues always seem to be able to post set times, but Live Nation can't? ugh...

Djnak

I saw set times posted on various music blogs. Google is your friend.

codywhitman

He talked about quitting guitar because the sound was off (roadie had taken guitar), in fact the sound was horrendous the whole night. The roadie was on stage so much I thought they added a band member. Definitely the last time I will ever see a show at the Gibson, awful place. Despite being visibly annoyed by the sound issues, the band was great as usual. Just really wish it didn't sound like i was listening to them with styrofoam cups attached to my ears.

Kickit

Exactly...this was one of the worst MMJ shows I've seen...was Molly even at the show??? Who pays Molly to write this bogus review.

Sound was off and transistions were horrible. The Gibson blows...too disney around there...anti 420, saw a couple people get kicked out after their first joint hit.

Same on MMJ for even playing there.