My Morning Jacket, the prolific Southern rock jamband, celebrated Halloween in style this past weekend with a hometown show at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. The long-anticipated homecoming concert was a makeup show for the band, who were forced to cancel their two-night Louisville run in June due to frontman Jim James testing positive for COVID-19.

Before the show started, a white curtain hung in front of the stage. The band assembled behind the curtain as a pre-recorded intro counted down, ending in a Kabuki drop that revealed the group in their Halloween costumes. James was dressed as a witch, guitarist/saxophonist Carl Broemel donned a skeleton costume, keyboardist Bo Koster appeared to be dressed as an old woman, bassist Tom Blankenship was Eddie Munson from Stranger Things, and drummer Patrick Hallahan was dressed as Beetlejuice. 

The group started off the set with a bang, leading with their hit, “One Big Holiday.” They kept the energy coming, rattling off a sequence of tracks from their 2008 record Evil Urges, which included “Holdin On To Black Metal,” “Evil Urges,” and “Victory Dance.” “Victory Dance” sequenced into the first musical surprise of the evening: a cover of “Spooky” by Classics IV. This was followed by a major bust-out, the deep cut “Friends Again,” a tune from My Morning Jackets’s Outta My System EP that had only been played five times previously. 

For the middle of the set, the band touched on songs from all over their catalog. From the minor-infused jam “Off The Record” to the folky slow-burn “Circuital” to the occasion-fitting “I Think I’m Going To Hell,” the group sprinkled in tunes to suit every fan’s taste. The rocking sing-along “Gideon” led to an epic rendition of parts 1-2 of “Touch Me I’m Going To Scream.” After the jam-infused numbers, the band threw another curveball into the mix with a cover of Donovan’s “Season Of The Witch.” The main set wrapped up with “Run Thru” and “Dancefloors.”

After a brief break, the band returned for an encore that led with “Lay Low” and was followed by an exuberant “Mahgeetah.” To wrap things up, My Morning Jacket closed things out with “Wordless Chorus,” complete with giant puppets joining the band on stage and confetti raining down on the venue.

The homecoming concert, which appears to be the band’s last show of 2022, was a joyous way to close out the year. And as far as live performances go, it’s clear the road veterans are far from done: Floydfest just announced My Morning Jacket will be sharing the stage with the likes of The Black Crowes, Sheryl Crow and Goose next year. 

See the full setlist below:

My Morning Jacket 
KFC Yum! Center – Louisville, KY

Set: One Big Holiday, Holdin On To Black Metal, Evil Urges, Victory Dance > Spooky (Classics IV Cover, MMJ debut), Love Love Love, Friends Again*, Off The Record, Least Expected, Golden, Feel You, What a Wonderful Man, Circuital, Spring (Among The Living), I Think I’m Going To Hell, Gideon, Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 1 > Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 2, Season Of The Witch (Donovan Cover, MMJ Debut), Run Through, Dancefloors,

Enc.: Lay Low, Mahgeetah, Wordless Chorus 

Notes: *Bust-out, last time played Oct. 23, 2010