Photos: An Evening with Jim James at Belly Up, November 1, 2018

Last Thursday, I had the unexpected privilege of shooting photos of Jim James at the Belly Up. Over the years, I've had the pleasure of seeing My Morning Jacket several times, and was able to catch him solo years back for some weird Rock n Roll Hall of Fame touring series where he'd play some songs in between a live on stage interview, but this was the first time I had my camera at one of his shows with actual permission. (To be honest, I'd smuggled my camera into that Belly Up thing back in the day and snuck some audio recordings, but who knows where those ended up.) Anyhow, this show was amazing, though the lighting was quite subdued and challenging. Naturally, it had sold out rather quickly. It was 'an evening with', so there was no opener, just Jim James, barefoot with his guitar for the first part of the night, and later (as the crowd collectively started feeling their alcohol and increasing the chatter), was joined by a drummer. The music spanned his career, though he definitely took some time to comment on the current state of politics and division and allowed all of us to get lost in the music. If you haven't ever had the chance to see him, do it, and if you have, you know you'll be there every single time he returns. More photos after the jump.

Photos: FM 94/9 Holiday Hootenanny

Last weekend, FM 94/9 had their annual Holiday Hootenanny concert. For the first time, the show was at USD's Jennny Craig Pavilion and had a killer lineup with My Morning Jacket, Two Door Cinema Club, Matt & Kim, and Delta Spirit, with The Blackout Party entertaining the beer garden between mainstage acts. These are few of my favorite shots of the night, with the full album at the bottom. Thanks to everyone at FM 94/9 for another great year of music and allowing me to weasel snapshots among the pros.

Videos: My Morning Jacket, OAT

Last night I attempted to organize some of my photos from the last few months, and I came across some video I shot at the My Morning Jacket show a few months ago. I decided to upload it though the camera wasn't very stabilized, and I had to keep moving it around to get the autofocus to work, but the sound is pretty fantastic, so there's that. I guess I've been in an MMJ mood since stumbling across Dylan Leblanc, who to me sounds like a cross between MMJ and Ryan Adams. I'll post a video of his below and you can decide for yourself.

Avi Buffalo & My Morning Jacket at Open Air Theatre

I know I'm months behind when it comes to photos, but sometimes, like tonight, there's this crazy thing...I'm such an amateur photographer and I'm constantly chided for not having a "real" camera, yet I was the only one in the photo pit for Avi Buffalo, and then during My Morning Jacket there was only one other photographer...so besides all the people shooting photos from the crowd, I was quite privileged to have an up close view of the show. Sometimes I will stand right in front of a speaker just to hear the music closer than anyone else, and take pictures just so I don't look like such a fangirl.

I have to say I have a certain affection for Avi. I know he's been a big deal in LA for a while, but it still makes me especially happy to know that he's signed to SubPop. I recommended him for last year's North Park Music Thing. His career was already on a trajectory for success, but just how well the band is doing is really impressive. Immediately after the show, Sezio announced that the next time we'll get to enjoy Avi Buffalo will be Sunday, November 7 at Sushi Art. Save the date.
Here are some of my shots of Avi Buffalo:



There's no way that my photos can represent the awesome of My Morning Jacket at the Open Air Theatre, but like I said, I felt pretty privileged to have a photo pass and do the best I can with the tools I have. I did catch a shot of the set list which had 26 songs...the last two weren't played because MMJ played right up until curfew for OAT but the set had moments of beauty, moments of bliss, and full on rock out moments. Dondante, for example, clocked in at nearly 14 minutes and the total set was just shy of 2 and a half hours. I'm sort of a late-on-the-MMJ-boat fan, so the songs I really appreciated were the more mainstream ones, but I know that most of my "I've-seen-MMJ-since-they-played-dive-bars" kinda friends also appreciated them pulling some older material out of the vault. I have to say personally that while Jim is a genius on guitar, it's a lot more fun to watch him wander around the stage without and instrument, strutting with his cape or a towel over his head. Either way, everyone present at the show last night felt the joy that Jim expressed about being on the road and about kicking off the show in San Diego, which garnered comments about our beautiful weather more than once. Kentucky, apparently, really sucks right now with a sweltering summer. To that, I say, Jim, you're welcome back to San Diego any time and we'll always have a place for you here.



I didn't realize when I was uploading the photos that they would be so small...I seriously sometimes suck when it comes to the shortcut. These are just a handful of the 319 that I shot. I might try to add some more later.

Jeff's Weekly Pick: My Morning Jacket @ Open Air Theatre Wednesday August 11, 2010

One of the more difficult rock bands to pigeonhole is My Morning Jacket. Having produced five studio albums, as well as a live cd, the band from Louisville, KY continues to experiment and display a varied musical palette. This translates into longer than normal live performances, having witnessed an epic two and a half hour concert the last time the band played in San Diego. There is no doubt who brings it all together, that being lead singer and guitarist Jim James. This man is one of the busier guys in the music business today, with side projects, solo efforts, guest appearances on other bands albums and who knows what else. The band members have remained in tact for the last six years. Though they may live in different parts of the country, they are one truly cohesive unit in the studio and on tour. Each one of the five studio albums is unique in its musical themes, but their most recent LP, Evil Urges, found the band going in many different directions. The result was a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Rock album.

Having attended concerts for longer than most of the attendees have been alive, I was thoroughly blown away during their 2008 performance. It ranked as one of my all time favorites. Here's hoping for more of the same this time around.

Avi Buffalo sets the stage.

Watch a video of Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 2 below

Monday Recap: Jim James & Dr. Dog

My whole Monday post has disappeared and so much has already happened since then that I will just give you the gist of my Monday night.

It started when Cullen picked me up from the Casbah (where I'd parked my car) and we headed up to Solana Beach. I can't believe he'd never been to the Belly Up before, but it was nice to be ther when he popped his Belly Up cherry. We waited in the line for about half an hour which was fine because we met up with Seth and the two of them amused me as they recounted Steven Segal movies from their youth among other random conversation.

Once in the venue, we opted for some side tables instead of the rows of chairs set in front of the stage which was the smartest move of the evening. It was nice that MGD was hosting "The Craft" because they handed out wristbands with tabs for two comp beers. You know in my resourcefulness that I managed more than just my two beers. A whole bunch of friends were there, so we all hung out during the show. There was a guy from the Rock N Roll hall of fame conducting the interview. The very. long winded. interview. I never thought I'd wish for a Halloran interview so much in my life. At least Hal knows his shit and isn't constantly referring to his "research". Not to say the guy doesn't know music, just that he guided the conversation so much with his pre-planned questions instead of letting each answer lead to the next relevant question. Whatever.

I should say that I am not a My Morning Jacket fan. It's not that I don't like them, I just never got into them enough to invest in their music. To me, they're kinda "meah". So I went to this show because first, I do recognize the cultural significance of Jim James and seeing him intimately is rare, and second because I was hoping that this performance would win me over. While his music was beautiful, it wasn't the environment to pull me in, mostly because the interview was so. long. In almost two hours, Jim James played 5 songs. He kept saying he was a self taught musician yet the guy persisted with technical questions that he wasn't very interested in answering. I guess it will all be edited down though. At least I know what to expect in the future if given the opportunity. Word on the street is that "The Craft" people were happy with the venue and there will be more in the future. (Jack Johnson and Dave Grohl were a couple of the names I heard thrown around)

The clock struck 11 and the interview continued but a couple more songs were promised, but I had paid money for the Dr. Dog show. Andrew and Andrea were cutting out early, but Cullen, the best non-date date ever was a gentleman and left early to get me to my next destination.

When I arrived at the Casbah, the energy in the room was incredible which I supposed was because Delta Spirit brought it and from what I heard, that was accurate. Dr. Dog was already onstage playing, and Natalie was up front and allowed me to take some pics. (YouTube will be up later)











There are some shows that are good, and there are some that are a total party, and when a good show happens to also be an Anti Monday League night, you know it's definitely an event. After bouncing around and being chatty, I was standing at the bar and spotted Chad Price from Drag the River and currently touring in Rocky Votolato's band. He was really friendly and said he thought he'd come by to check things out. "Our hotel is just down the street and I needed a drink so it was either here or the strip club." 9 out of 10 musicians choose the Casbah over titties. Nice. Anyway, Dr. Dog was long done and the bar was clearing out so he asked if there was someplace else nearby. I offered to take him. We found ourselves at the Jewel Box in time for last call. When we were done there somehow I convinced him to let me show him one of my favorite SD spots.

I should've asked if he was afraid of heights. I didn't. He was. Still, I managed to convince him to cross the Spruce Street suspension bridge. We were chatty and realized how late it was, so I dropped him back at his hotel and was on my merry way.

Unfortunately, all that driving around made me realize just how bad my car had become, so Tuesday, instead of working, I had to shop around for an auto shop nearby, took it in, and they spent all day with it. Luckily I was able to ride my bike home while they worked on it, but the time it would've taken to bus to work and back would've been worthless. A day off almost softens the blow of the $350 I had to spend and the additional $500 I'm gonna have to spend if I have them do all the work I really need done. boo.