My Morning Jacket Debuts A Pair Of Covers At Lockn’ Festival

My Morning Jacket made their Lockn’ Festival debut by headlining the main stage Saturday night. The band delivered a career-spanning setlist mixing originals with covers, including debuting a song originally performed by Dionne Warwick and one made famous by David Bowie.

JamBase editor Scott Bernstein is on site at Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, Virginia where he had this to say regarding MMJ’s show-stealing 18-song set yesterday:

My Morning Jacket gave a relentless performance from the first anthemic notes of “Victory Dance” to the incredibly potent “One Big Holiday” closer. Included within were a selection of the best songs from their studio albums and a whopping four covers. After MMJ released The Waterfall last year, they barely played any covers. Jim James & Co. had plenty in store for Lockn’ as they debuted a passionate rendering of Burt Bacharach’s “What The World Needs Now Is Love” and a frenetic tribute to David Bowie in the form of “Rebel Rebel.” The quintet also dusted off a lively cover of Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved,” just the second time they’ve ever played it and first since the 2015 installment of their One Big Holiday destination festival. Then there was a breathtaking cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain” that had festivalgoers staring at the band in amazement with a sense of satisfaction that comes with seeing a set you know is a once-in-a-lifetime, special performance. Kudos to MMJ for stealing the show at Lockn’ and earning every penny they were paid.

An audience recording of MMJ’s Lockn’ Festival appearance that also saw extended takes on “Steam Engine,” “Phone Went West” and “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream (pt. 2)” was posted by opsopcopolis, listen here:

Lockn’ continues today with performances by Phish, Phil Lesh & Friends, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Gary Clark Jr. and others. A variety of outlets are offering a free webcast of the festival.