Seated inside the majestic Academy of Music, with three rows of gilded balconies, and a giant, sparkling chandelier, it’s easy to forget you’re at a rock concert.
“They actually filmed the ballroom scenes of a classic ocean disaster movie here,” asserts My Morning Jacket’s Yim Yames (real name: Jim James) Monday night, half-joking as he surveys the crowd. “We dedicate this next number to the remake of the Poseidon!”
He laughs and strums his guitar as band mate M. Ward exhales into the microphone. The song is “To save me”, one of Ward’s own, and he’s joined by Yames—as well as Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis—to recreate it live on stage.
Keyboards twinkle, percussion clangs, guitars quaver, and Ward’s husky tubes pump out an effortless tune. It’s an evening of recreation and energy, from modern music’s most promising new super group, the Monsters of Folk.
Conceived half a decade ago when the quartet used to tour together, the Monsters are more than an amalgam of ridiculously talented people—they’re a roaring, thriving, rock and folk force, whose impressive 2 hour-and-15-minute set contains both original compositions (the band’s self-titled debut dropped this past October) and classic faves from the M. Ward, Bright Eyes and My Morning Jacket catalogues.
The foursome—looking strikingly dapper in tailored suits—are joined only by a drummer (the formidable Will Johnson) and an assortment of instruments, which they shuffle between with ease.
They kick things off with “Say Please”, a jaunty rock number with ample guitar wailing and lush three-part harmonies—then slow things down for “The right place,” Yames’s twang-y tenor delightfully accented by the plinky plucks of Mogis’s pedal steel.
Between ensemble numbers, it’s all about solos and duets—I’m blown away by the mellow crooning and lively slap-strum of Ward’s “One hundred million years”, and the warbly angst and struggle in Bright Eyes’ “Hit the Switch.” But it’s a passion-fueled version of My Morning Jacket’s “Bermuda Highway” that really has me captivated, as Yames’s soaring falsetto rings out gloriously among the high ceilings.
The Monsters end their set with “Losin Yo Head,” a punchy, rambunctious pop number with pulsing beats and playful vocals that has the crowd dancing in front of their seats. They remain standing for the rest of the encore: Bright Eyes’ “At the bottom of everything” and “Another travelin’ song” (Mogis’s pedal steel again stealing the spotlight) and toe-tapping earthy rocker “Whole Lotta Losin.’”
They close their set with “Master’s Voice,” a heart-breakingly beautiful Yames-fronted ballad that dissolves, ultimately, into a cacophony of fuzz and noise. The audience whoops and hollers as the curtains fall, proving the Monsters are truly greater than the sum of their parts.
Set List (with original artist in parenthesis)
"Say Please" (Monsters Of Folk)
"The right place" (Monsters Of Folk)
"Soul singer in a session band" (Bright Eyes)
"Slow down Jo" (Monsters Of Folk)
"Man named Truth" (Monsters Of Folk)
"Vincent O'Brien" (M. Ward)
"One life away" (M. Ward)
"One hundred million years" (M. Ward)
"Poison cup" (M. Ward)
"Smoke without fire" (Bright Eyes)
"Golden" (My Morning Jacket)
"Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)" (Monsters Of Folk)
"Baby Boomer" (Monsters Of Folk)
"We are nowhere and it is now" (Bright Eyes)
"Lullaby" (M. Ward)
"At Dawn" (My Morning Jacket)
"To save me" (M. Ward)
"Kathy with a K's song" (Bright Eyes)
"Bermuda Highway" (My Morning Jacket)
"Look at you" (My Morning Jacket)
“Map of the World” (Monsters of Folk)
"Smoking from your shootin’” (My Morning Jacket)
"Hit the switch" (Bright Eyes)
"Losin Yo head" (Monsters Of Folk)
"At the bottom of everything" (Bright Eyes)
"Whole lotta losin" (Monsters Of Folk)
"Another travelin song" (Bright Eyes)
"Master's voice" (Monsters Of Folk)
