All summer long, My Morning Jacket has been helping with headlining music festivals, including Austin City Limits over this last weekend and the jam happy Bonnaroo. The band has now posted a series of U.S. tour dates for December. In addition, they have once again proven they have a great eye for finding the perfect openers.

For the majority of the shows Delta Spirit, a Lollapalooza favorite, will be performing and for the first few the Dap Kings and Sharon Jones will be there. Then on December 14 Band of Horses will join My Morning Jacket at Madison Square Garden, which was recently renovated, to make a heaven of reverb-drenched guitars. It will be a long vowel sound marathon.

The always awesome Neko Case, in case you didn’t hear, this summer has been at the shows. Also The Head and the Heart will be assisting My Morning Jacket overseas.

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta hosted not one but two rising artists on the modern rock scene this evening in headliner My Morning Jacket and opener Neko Case. My Morning Jacket is touring on their May release ‘Circuital’ which is a full bodied beauty. This is easily one of their strongest and most adventurous works to date. Their summer tour broke ground in their hometown of Louisville May 31, and they haven’t left the road since. The band’s Atlanta stop marked the home stretch of their North American leg before they make the jump to Europe. They certainly didn’t exhaust their mojo on the road as MMJ dug through the back catalog for hidden gems to couple with fan favorites in this 2-hour jam fest.

Neko Case and company opened the evening promptly at 7:30. She’s a pretty high profile opener since she was filling out the Cobb Energy Center on her own when she was in town a couple years back. It does make me question how the opening band is choosen to begin with. I mean Neko and MMJ are both modern/indie rock staples, but I wouldn’t necessarily say they have complementary fanbases.

Case displayed her usual soaring vocals as she worked through select songs from ‘Middle Cyclone’ and ‘Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.’ During her 45 minute set, she featured two new tracks that were very characteristic of her sound. Overall, it was a good set and the only complaint I can levy is on the My Morning Jacket faithful, many of whom seemed more focused on their respective conversations than on Neko’s set. The fiery haired lady is a rare talent. Give her the respect she deserves.

After an hour plus stage shuffling, Jim James and his brothers in instruments welcomed the crowd with a one-two punch off of ‘Circuital,’ playing opening tracks ‘Victory Dance’ and the album’s title track to open the evening. James came equipped with a vocal sampler strung around his neck for ‘Victory Dance’ to throw in the song’s patented sonic effects.

The band wanted to show off their new baby and played ‘Circuital’ almost cover to cover. The tracks were quite flavorful live, and My Morning Jacket used the set as an open-ended jam sessions, allowing the songs to escape the boundaries they are pinned to on the album. That being said, there was certainly no neglect paid to their previous albums. They spread the wealth around sampling from ‘Z,’ ‘Evil Urges,’ ‘It Still Moves’ and even pulled ‘Cobra’ off of 2002s ‘Chocolate and Ice EP.’ It was like their setlist was a big fruit platter they couldn’t get enough of. Neko Case joined for the encore to duet a cover of Stevie Nick’s ‘Stop Draggin My Heart Around’ with Jim James. If Mrs. Case ever tires of her collaborative efforts with the New Pornographers, I think I may she may have a new musical playmate in James. ‘Islands in the Stream’ anyone?

The crowd was definitely plugged in to My Morning Jacket’s set. The heavily college skewed audience was grooving through the wafts of pot and random burst of glow sticks spraying out into the audience. The crowd watching was quite interesting from the guy sporting the polar bear hoodie to the couple doing the foxtrot to ‘Slow Slow Tune.’ Truthfully when lead singer Jim James mounts the stage following the encore proudly wearing a cape shouldn’t that tell you everything you need to know about the band’s followers? Then again, maybe the cape is simply James’ way of nudging the band’s into the bounds of prog rock.

My Morning Jacket put on a very good set. They brought a high level of energy and the sonic screaming guitars to the Atlanta crowd. I think its safe to say most left the venue brimming with satisfaction from seeing one of the best touring bands work their considerable magic. Best of luck in Europe boys, and stay away from those festivals with wobbly stages.

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, GA | August 20, 2011
Victory Dance
Circuital
You Wanna Freak Out
Off the Record
I’m Amazed
Gideon
Golden Lyrics
Outta My System
Smokin from Shootin
Run Thru
Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Part 2
Dondante
Slow Slow Tune
Holdin on to Black Metal
Mahgeetah
**Encore**
Wordless Chorus
The Day is Coming
Cobra
Stop Draggin My Heart Around (w/ Neko Case)
Dancefloors
One Big Holiday

Fans of Death Cab for Cutie will be able to stream their seventh set “Codes and Key” from National Public Radio’s website.

A live stream of the 11 track album will be available on May 22. The set includes recent singles “You Are a Tourist” and “Home Is a Fire.” “Codes and Keys” will arrive in the UK on May 30 and in the US on May 31.

Band members say their new album isn’t a record that is guitar-based. Instead, it relies on keyboards and vocals. NPR says, also it’s a true grower. “Codes and Keys” not only gains depth and richness with each exposure, it also continues to get better while it rolls along.

The band this spring released two videos from the album. “Home Is a Fire” was a collaborative effort with the famous artist Shepard Fairey. The visual journey ranges across Los Angeles, California’s grittier streets. “You Are a Tourist” used multiple cameras and was shot using one take, meaning no retakes or edits.

The album will be streaming from NPR’s website until it is released in the U.S.

In 2006, Death Cab for Cutie’s album “Plans” received a Grammy Award nomination. They also received Grammy nominations for their hit singles “I Will Possess Your Heart” and “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.” “Narrow Stairs,” the band’s latest album, was their first set to make it to the No. 1 spot on the U.S. album charts.

At NPR, the upcoming album from My Morning Jacket, “Circuital,” can also be streamed. The set will be released in the UK on May 30 and in the US on May 31. Also Cults, the indie pop duo from New York, are getting ready to release the band’s self-titled debut featuring nostalgic 1960s sounds. The full album is being streamed on NPR now.

Stream Death Cab for Cuties “Codes and Key” | Stream My Morning Jacket’s “Circuital”

In addition to their forthcoming performances at Bonnaroo and Hangout, My Morning Jacket have announced another string of tour dates to support their upcoming release “Circuital.”

Neko Case will be joining the band in August for several shows. Also, $1 from each ticket sold on the tour will go to help a local charity.

A trailer has also been released by My Morning Jacket to promote their “Unstaged” AmEx appearance, where the band and Todd Haynes teamed up. He will be filming a performance at the historic Palace Theater in Louisville. It will be airing live on My Morning Jacket’s VEVO page at 9 pm EDT on YouTube.

My Morning Jacket is hitting the tour trail once again. It will be the first time they’ve been out on the road in almost a year. They have a run of spring dates coming up with Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

The indie rock band will kick off their tour in Birmingham, AL on April 20. That will be followed up with shows in eight cities in the southeastern US. Currently the schedule wraps up in Columbus, OH on May 2.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans will be providing opening support on the tour.

Jim James, frontman of My Morning Jacket, collaborated last year with the jazz group at legendary Preservation Hall in New Orleans to record two tracks for “Preservation: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program,” the band’s upcoming album. The set will be be released to stores on February 12.

James in a recent press release said, when I received an invitation for going to Preservation Hall, a place where so much music that we know and love in this world found early roots, you can bet I didn’t waste any time. Getting to sing as the guys played those incredible bursts of sound live inside the holy room that has all the ghosts with the garbage trucks going by, that is an experience that I will never forget.

My Morning Jacket earlier this month released “Live at the Palms,” their digital EP that is available on iTunes. Their short set features “Dear Wife,” a previously unreleased tune as well as “Tonight I Want to Celebrate With You,” a rarely performed song that appeared originally on “The Tennessee Fire,” the band’s 1999 debut.

My Morning Jacket’s latest full length studio album, “Evil Urges,” was released in 2008. It peaked in the No. 9 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart.

2010 My Morning Jacket Concert Tour
April 2010
20 – Birmingham, AL – Alabama Theater
21 – Nashville, TN – Municipal Auditorium
23 – Atlanta, GA – Chastain Park Amphitheatre
24 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
27 – St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheater
28 – Charleston, SC – Family Circle
30 – Raleigh, NC – Koka Booth

May 2010
1 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion
2 – Columbus, OH – Lifestyle Communities Pavilion

It’s hard to image as winter gets a firm foothold, but the sultry, spring New Orleans Jazz Festival is just around the corner. The festival is headlined by heavyweight music acts like Pearl Jam, Van Morrison, Widespread Panic, The Black Crowes and My Morning Jacket. The 2010 edition of the New Orleans Jazz Festival marks the 41st running of the classic music event that features an eclectic blend of musical genres from rock and pop to gospel and blues.

The festival will take place over two weekends – April 23-25 and April 29-May 2 — at the New Orleans’ Fair Grounds Race Course. This year’s edition of the festival drew crowds of 40,000 to see first time participant Bon Jovi among other acts.
Other big name acts that will be participating in this year’s festival include Elvis Costello, The Allman Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Lionel Richie, Darius Rucker, Jeff Beck and hundreds of other artists. In addition to featuring nationally known acts, the New Orleans Jazz Festival also highlights local musical acts as well as food and craft booths.

Tickets went onsale Tuesday (12/15) via Ticketmaster and range in price from $45 for a single day admission to $120 for a three-day package and $160 for a four-day on the second weekend. If you can stomach the sometimes abrasive heat, this event is one not to be missed.