Full Show Friday | My Morning Jacket & Guests At Forecastle

In the world of sports, the tag “clutch” is attached to athletes who have a track record of success when the game in on the line and the pressure’s on. If any of our favorite bands deserve this “clutch” tag, it’s My Morning Jacket. A perfect example can be found by looking at MMJ’s July 14, 2012 set in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky at that summer’s Forecastle Festival. The band treated a massive crowd to a perfectly balanced set filled with guest spots, fan favorites and rarely-played covers.

[Image via The Steam Engine]

My Morning Jacket set at Forecastle was part of the band’s Spontaneous Curation series in which fans have a say in what songs were played. Jim James and Co. honored the requests right from the start, opening the set with only the second version of “The Dark,” off Tennessee Fire, of 2012. For the “Holdin’ On To Black Metal” that followed, MMJ were joined by old friends the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. A string of fan-favorite staples came next in “Wordless Chorus,” “I’m Amazed,” “Anytime,” “It Beats 4 U” and “Steam Engine” before the quintet welcomed Galaxie 500/Luna front man Dean Wareham for the debut cover of “Isn’t It A Pity” from George Harrison’s legendary All Things Must Pass LP.

Later, MMJ busted out their cover of “Rocket Man” by Elton John for the first time since the “albums run” at Terminal 5 on October 18, 2010. From there, they offered rarities “The Bear,” “Cobra” and the complete version of “Run Thru” to fill Spontaneous Curation requests. Former MMJer Johnny Quaid, who was an original member of the group, helped out on “Run Thru.” Towards the end of the 18-song set, My Morning Jacket dusted off another cover that hadn’t been played since the “albums run,” The Band’s “It Makes No Difference,” which featured Preservation Hall Jazz Band sax player Clint Maedgen handling the sax solos. “Gideon” closed the instant classic set complete with Andrew Bird on violin. However the hometown heroes still had a few treats left for the encore. Not only did MMJ cover Wham!’s “Careless Whisper” for the first time since the T5 “albums run,” but the show-closing “One Big Holiday” saw the band accompanied by Quaid and Kentucky puppetry troupe The Squallis Puppeteers.

Amazing pro-shot footage of the set can be viewed right here:

0:00 -The Dark
4:30 -Holdin’ On To Black Metal (w/ Pres Hall)
9:00 -Wordless Chorus
13:40 -I’m Amazed
19:00 -Anytime
23:00 -It Beats For You
28:10 -Steam Engine
38:00 -Isn’t It A Pity (George Harrison w/ Dean Wareham)
46:30 -Outta My System
50:55 -Mahgeetah
58:45 -Rocket Man (Elton John)
1:03:25 -The Bear
1:08:40 -Cobra
1:15:15 -Run Thru (w/ Johnny Quaid)
1:22:45 -It Makes No Difference (The Band w/ Clint from PJHB on Sax Solos)
1:29:30 -Smokin From Shootin
1:34:25 -Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Part 2
1:46:10 -Gideon (w/ Andrew Bird)
1:55:55 -Victory Dance
2:02:00 -Circuital
2:09:20 -Careless Whisper (George Michael)
2:20:00 -One Big Holiday (w/ Johnny Quaid & the Squallis Puppeteers)