REVIEW: My Morning Jacket, Kentish Town Forum

Renowned for their generosity, Kentucky s MMJ played to please with an energetic two-hour set balancing new directions with fan favourites. They are on the European leg of a transatlantic tour in a year which

REVIEW: My Morning Jacket, Kentish Town Forum

Renowned for their generosity, Kentucky's MMJ played to please with an energetic two-hour set balancing new directions with fan favourites.

They are on the European leg of a transatlantic tour in a year which has seen the release of fifth album Evil Urges and will end with a showcase gig at none other than Madison Square Garden on New

Year's eve.

So the intimacy of the Forum was a treat for those who know return visits by Jim James and co are likely to see increases in venue size and ticket price.

MMJ's dramatic soundscapes demand to be listened to and the crowd was duly rapt as the set built - despite the venue's disappointing sound quality.

James, whose soaring soul-drenched vocals have been compared with affirmed MMJ fan Neil Young, held nothing back, lasering dust out of the Forum's dark corners with pitch-perfect lament.

He clearly enjoyed himself, knee-sliding across the stage with abandon when off vocal duty and diving punter-wards, flying-V in hand.

The band did not rely purely on the country-inflected psychedelic rock from which they have hewn their name.

The funk and falsetto introduced on Evil Urges has won over the fans. Highly Suspicious saw the hardest pogo-ing in the show's epic climax, which ended with superb versions of established classics Dondante and One Big Holiday.

Rumour has it that MMJ is already penning album six. So if they return to north London and you like your rock southern-fried, with or without experiments in funk, do check them out.

Johnny Fenton