House music alternating between old school R+B, tango, and Louis Armstrong, would be out of place for just about any rock band. My Morning Jacket isn’t just any rock band and not only did the P.A. music not seem out of place, it made sense as it welcomed the crowd of some 1500 people to one of the prettiest amphitheaters you could ever hope for. Canandaigua translates from the Seneca language as “the chosen spot,” and if a steep rolling hill overlooking Canandaigua Lake doesn’t seem picturesque enough, a hot air balloon taking off just before the support act took the stage drove the point home.

The New Pornographers opened with a song called “Jazz Odyssey”, a bright and upbeat tune that sounded as if it could have been written in London in 1982. By the third song 1/8th note chords got a bit repetitive and not even delightful male and female vocal harmonies not dual synthesizers and cello could prevent me from getting bored. At one point the drummer asked the seated crowd “Are you allowed to stand up? Will they let you have fun?” The joke got as little response from the crowd as did the music. The New Pornographers were able to get people out of their seats only to buy beer, a far more interesting activity, which most seemed to find preferable to listening to music with all the annoying simplicity of pop, but none of the fun catchiness. If My Morning Jacket can be compared to a fine wine, these guys were apple juice.

The amphitheater was only about 60% filled when MMJ entered in darkness while a recording of “Rollin It” played. The band led off “The Way That He Sings,” muscular and upbeat. The way that lead singer Jim James sings is ethereal and evocative, far off but somehow also right beside you. The song ended and the lights went out. As the next song started, the smoke covered stage was lit red from behind. “Gideon” started mellow, with Bo Kolster’s moody keys and sparse bass drum. The song picked up intensity as the instrumentation filled in and lights began to flash, staying in the red scheme. Drummer Patrick Hallahan, a big man with long dark curly hair both looks and plays like a beast. Wearing a bright red shirt, matching the lightly scheme the song felt like his. In a loud instrumental section both guitarists and bassist turned from the audience to face Hallahan and play to him, like worshipping at the alter in some kind of wonderful demonic ritual.

At the first biggest swell of the evening a curtain dropped revealing the back curtain image of two eyeballs protruding from open boxes. This along with their two trademark owls flying on either side of the stage, a donkey head on a blanket shrouded stand and a scarf wearing stuffed bear made up the décor of the evening. On their twitter account the band takes suggestions from fans as to what color scarf the bear, named Denise, should wear. This act reflects a lot about the band. A desire for intimate connections despite producing an enormous and sometimes distant sound, a touch of humor while making serious music. A hard band to put a finger on, My Morning Jacket can perhaps best be understood as the poetic balance between dichotomies. Their music is old but new, hard but soft, complex but simple, synthesized but organic, mournful but celebratory, guiding but searching, all within the same song.

A beautifully melodic “Mahgeetah” had James hopping twirling and literally skipping across the stage until he ended up on the drum platform, all while Carl Broemel laid down a filthy solo on lead guitar. In an interview for Live Design lighting designer Marc Janowitz described his philosophy of making it seeming like the band emitted light. The visual element of the evening was phenomenal and restrained only using shades of red, yellow blue, purple, and white. As the set went on the lighting scheme progressed from one color for the whole song to two. By the encore Janowitz threw everything he had, though still avoided the freneticism common in other big name touring acts.

For “Tonight I Want to Celebrate with You,” James played autochord, a strange electronic version of an instrument in traditional country like June Carter, along with Broemel playing a haunting version of another traditional country instrument, pedal steel guitar. The gentlest run of the evening continued with “Golden,” “Circutial,” “It beats 4 You” and “Wonderful.” During the last two Jim James played acoustic guitar. Things got a little more intense, a little louder. “I’m amazed” was followed by “Dancefloors” which built into the heaviest thrashing jam of the night driven by Tom “Two-Tone Tommy” Blankenship’s pounding bass. When it ended a guy standing next to me said “Wow,” simple words with which I don’t think anyone in attendance would have disagreed. By the end of “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2” Only James was playing. He finnished the final notes on his autochord and ran off, leaving an empty stage with lights on the two owls’ heads and two eyeballs of the back curtain.

Jim James put on a red lined black cape for the four song encore, and performed sans guitar for the first two songs, “Wordless Chorus,” during which he would hide under his cape at appropriate times in the music and “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt 1.” He picked up guitar for a slightly reggae tinged “Off the Record,” exchanging it for his Gibson flying V for “One Big Holliday.” The audience head banged, fist pumped and jumped up and down for this final song, a massive, phenomenal exertion of energy. They could have gotten away with playing one song as an encore and then calling it a night. Most bands wouldn’t even have a four song encore in them after their twelfth two and half hour show in seventeen days. But My Morning Jacket isn’t most bands.