Photos by Tim Dwenger
It was election night, and while the political mood was tense as we made our way into The Paramount, the vibe inside was one of excitement as we were all there to see a unique performance from one of the best singers of his generation, Jim James.
After an opening set from Hurray for the Riff Raff’s Alynda Segarra, poet Andrea Gibson was introduced and took the stage under the stark light of a single spotlight. With the shadow of the election hanging over the night, Gibson’s poetry was strikingly appropriate – though unsettling. Her stage presence was riveting as she passionately delivered a pair of poems that centered on gun violence. The imagery was vivid and disturbing as she called out the NRA and stood up for the LGBTQ community. Bravo Ms. Gibson!
The house lights didn’t even come up between the end of Gibson’s brief set and the moment that Jim James emerged from the wings to open the show with a solo acoustic version of My Morning Jacket’s “I’m Amazed.” While the stripped-down nature of the show (he only had a drummer join him on a few songs) may have been a surprise to some, it was exactly what had attracted me and, as James made his way through another Jacket gem, “The Day is Coming” and the lead single from his most recent album Uniform Distortion – “Just A Fool” – I found myself hanging on every word just as I’d expected.
James nodded to the election with a cover of Nina Simone’s “New World Coming” as my phone vibrated with a text message from my wife letting me that Colorado had just elected the nation’s first openly gay Governor and the House of Representatives moving back under the control of the Democrats – things were looking up!
As we moved through the nearly two-hour set, James hit on songs from his solo catalog like “Same Old Lie” alongside a couple of my personal favorite My Morning Jacket tunes including “Dondante” and “Bermuda Highway.” Three quarters of the way through the evening, James invited Segarra back to the stage for Uniform Distortion’s “Over and Over” before thanking Gibson for her poetry and then dropping a pair of tracks from 2016’s Eternally Even sandwiched around the last new song of the night “No Secrets.”
After a brief break, James returned to the stage for a four-song encore that showcased the Jacket favorites “Golden” and “Wonderful (The Way I Feel), followed by his own “State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.)” and “Here in Spirit.” As we filed out of the theater, my friend summed things up perfectly when he said “Well, he passed the Neil Young test.” When I asked him what he meant he went on to explain that “he’s got all that beautifully produced studio music with bands, but he can still bring people to their feet with just his voice and an acoustic guitar.” Man, was he ever right – this was a special evening.
Jim James – November 6th – Paramount Theatre, Denver, CO
I’m Amazed, Changing World, The Day Is Coming, You Get to Rome, Just a Fool, New World Coming* (Nina Simone), I Will Be There When You Die, All In Your Head, No Use Waiting, Rainbow Power* (Timmy Thomas), Same Old Lie, Dondante, Big Decisions, Bermuda Highway, Throwback, Look at You, Over & Over* w/ Alynda Segarra, The World’s Smiling Now, No Secrets, A New Life
Encore: Golden, Wonderful (The Way I Feel), State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.), Here in Spirit
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