Space-age gunslinger rocks SDSU

My Morning Jacket’s Jim James looked like a space-age gunslinger on this evening at SDSU’s Open Air Theatre. He sported a black leather trench coat throughout the show. It was outlaw badass and the perfect complement to his six-string sharpshooting.

The band marched through songs from their catalog but gave the crowd a heaping helping of material off their most recent platter The Waterfall. Of these six cuts, “Tropics (Erase Traces)” was an easy favorite. It’s an epic album track, but live it really seems to rocket into the stratosphere. It’s an example of MMJ’s prog-rock experimentation that got the people on the floor locked into its hypnotic groove.

During the main set, “Wordless Chorus” and “Gideon” from 2005’s Z also got a great response, as did opener “Mahgeetah” from 2003’s It Still Moves. Interestingly enough, the band also played “Quick Like a Flash” from The New Basement Tapes album that Jim James participated on.

By the time the group was finishing up the final song of their encores (a rousing rendition of “One Big Holiday” from It Still Moves) it was pushing 11 p.m. There had been kids out on two apartment patios just east of the stage all night. Though their view was blocked, they could hear everything. Dorms and apartments seemed to surround the amphitheater on nearly every side. So, thank you SDSU kids for being cool about insanely loud noise. Your parents, aunts, and uncles appreciate it.

• Artist: My Morning Jacket
• Venue: SDSU Open Air Theatre
• Date: October 19
• Seats: Section BB, row E, seat 9