Review: Pavilion at Riverfront and Spokane enchant My Morning Jacket’s Jim James

In the 20-plus years that My Morning Jacket have existed and been embraced as an institution of indie rock, they’ve kept their Washington appearances exclusive to the West Side.

That was up until Wednesday night, when the Kentucky-born band made up for lost time with a 21-song marathon that spanned almost their entire career at the Pavilion at Riverfront.

R&B outfit Durand Jones & The Indications, who were tapped with opening duties for My Morning Jacket’s Northwest leg of their tour, began the day playing their soulful inflections to a receptive, if sparse, audience as the crowd took their time filing in.

The eight-piece band (fronted by the titular Jones and including keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, percussion and two background vocalists) got the crowd swaying most with a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and newest single “Witchoo,” in which the dual vocal attack of drummer Aaron Frazer and Jones made the most electric impression of their set.

When My Morning Jacket took the stage to the tune of “Circuital,” the standing crowd had swelled to cover just less than two-thirds of the concrete while other fans watched the show comfortably nestled along the hillside.

Between an electrified interpretation of “War Begun” from their 1999 debut album and both singles from their upcoming, self-titled ninth album, the intimate Spokane crowd was enchanted. Still, maybe not as enchanted as frontman/songwriter Jim James was with his first experience of Spokane.

“We’ve never been here before – this is such a beautiful place,” James said early in the set. “When I woke up this morning and walked around the town and saw the waterfalls and saw the town, the day was so beautiful and the town felt so beautiful.

“We’re really glad we’re here, and I can’t wait to come back and learn more about the town,” James said before going into “I’m Amazed.”

James was also taken aback by the venue itself, saying, “I’m a big World’s Fair fan … and that really, really made my day. What a spectacular thing. I can’t get enough of this place. It just feels so good to be here.”

Throughout the night, lead guitarist Carl Broemel and James traded solos and flashed moments of Allman Brothers-adjacent harmonized guitar work while founding bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan and keyboardist Bo Koster held down the winding live arrangements.

With a lineup tested by two decades’ worth of touring and fresh from a nearly two-year hiatus (partially self-imposed and partially because of COVID-19), the set stretched comfortably into nearly two hours and included songs like “Mahgeetah” and the No. 1 Adult Alternative charting “Feel You.”

From “Feel You” onward, the band fired off an undeniable string of second-half songs that included “Love Love Love,” “Wordless Chorus” and “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream, Pt. 2.” which made some of the hilltop audience migrate to the concrete floor.

If there was ever a way to make the ascending aahs of “Wordless Chorus” even cooler, My Morning Jacket found out how to do it in the form of strobe lights and a disco ball, making full use of it to unlock the crowd’s reservations and dance toward the end of the set.

When the band materialized for the encore, they returned with the mellow “Run It” and fierce cool of “Victory Dance” (complete with James wrapped in one of his signature capes) before closing the night with the roaring riffing of “One Big Holiday.”