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Monsters of Folk, the supergroup made up of M. Ward, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), and Jim James (My Morning Jacket), played two New York-area shows this weekend: Friday at United Palace and Sunday at the Beacon Theatre. I was lucky enough to go to the Friday show.
The men looked super snazzy in their dark suits and skinny ties, and played for about 3 hours with no opener–quite a skill in itself. They had with them drummer Will Johnson (Centro-Matic and South San Gabriel) to play on the tour. The fellas were energetic and happy and genuinely seemed to be having a grand old time. They played songs off their new, self-titled album, as well as songs written by each individual musician. Sometimes M. Ward would back up Jim James, or Jim James would sing with Conor Oberst, or M. Ward would do a solo…you think of the combination and they did it.
M. Ward was in full f0rm, especially when he was rollicking on the upright piano. His voice is like no other and every time I hear it come out of his small frame I am shocked. Jim James guitar playing was superb, and the songs where he was led vocalist stood out for me as touching and beautiful. By contrast, I felt Conor Oberst’s songs were dull and immature, both in lyrics and vocals. But he had plenty of fans there and none of them seemed to mind. I guess that’s why I’m not a Bright Eyes fan.
Monsters of Folk is a fun but soulful album and definitely worth checking out. It will be interesting to see if this group is just a one-time thing or if they will release others albums together. More pictures after the jump.
All images: Devorah Klein