Two goliath rock bands co-headlining a tour is always exciting – but the pairing of My Morning Jacket with Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats is far more than a double bill. Together, these two bands created a multi-hour journey from down into the mud straight into the cosmos. And you’ve got to think that Rateliff and MMJ mastermind Jim James, two burly, idiosyncratic frontmen with similar looks but vastly different energies, knew exactly what they were doing.
In short, the “Eye to Eye” tour starts down in the depths: Rateliff and his 7-man Night Sweats churning through a fast-paced set of tight, taut, heavy-grooving soul-rock; the band clad all in black, filling the balmy air with electric energy. Then come My Morning Jacket, James dressed in angelic white, playing a highly improvisational, stretched-out set of space-rock bangers.
If Rateliff bottled up the crowd’s sizzling energy, James twisted off the top and shot it straight to the stars.
Rateliff, who just dropped his excellent fourth album this summer, launched his set with a string of rockers capped by the stomping “Survivor.” The inclusion of a horn trio section (trumpet, tenor sax and a thundering baritone sax) gave most of these tunes a steady, low-end rumble.
And Rateliff’s voice was in pristine condition: the man’s got one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most versatile voices. He unleashed a Springsteen-level howl on tracks like “Get Used to the Night,” from his latest album, and the band’s iconic breakthrough single “SOB.” But he can also invite in some real intimacy, with a warm, Van Morrison-like coo on stripped-down tunes like “And It’s Still Alright,” a beloved solo cut.
The band’s cover of Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” was an extra jolt in an already buzzing set.
Then came My Morning Jacket, coaxing the crowd to release all that built-up energy. And release it they did; the crowded Mann Center was awash in flailing bodies amid a colorful, blaring light show.
My Morning Jacket opened with the slow-growing Jim James solo tune “State of the Art – A.E.I.O.U.” followed by career-best songs “Wordless Chorus” and “Off the Record.” Quickly, they dove into some of their headiest songs, and gave each other room to improvise and groove.
“Steam Engine,” from MMJ’s 2003 opus It Still Moves, unfolded over nearly a dozen minutes, slowly and patiently. The tune hit epic peaks with guitarist Carl Broemel playing a gorgeous, slippery saxophone solo alongside keyboardist Bo Koster’s undulating synthesizer. It was, in short, a blissed-out counterpoint to Rateliff’s ecstatic, tightly-wound set.
My Morning Jacket aren’t one of rock’s most hallowed live bands for nothing; watching these musicians toss melodies to each other and play like curious kids is a sight to behold. Often, James, Broemel and bassist Tom Blankenship would gather around drummer Parick Hallahan’s raised kit, backs to the audience, and just headbang for minutes on end – as if they were praying to a god of percussion.
The band invited Night Sweats members onstage – Rateliff now dressed in matching white – for a humungous sing-along of the Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” which evolved into another free-wheeling, somersaulting jam.
MMJ wrapped it up with “One Big Holiday,” and then the lights abruptly came on, leaving thousands of Philadelphians blinking, wide-eyed, still floating in space.
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