My Morning Jacket – Somerset House, London 18/07/11

It’s a stern task; deciding on the most suitable setting for My Morning Jacket’s music. The songs they write today wouldn’t be seen near the tightly-packed, stuffy downtown venues they began their career in. Without a doubt, they need something bigger as a response to the band’s development from alt-country rock through to bolder songs with more dynamic and guts.

Somerset House isn’t quite the prime location. Its grand – albeit beautiful – surroundings fail to match the throbbing, more experimental songs on new album Circuital. A sun-soaked, multi-thousand capacity stadium might do the trick but not the damp and chilly setting of one of London’s more eye-pleasing landmarks. Pacing the stage, lead singer Jim James even calls it a “little fucked up”.

An unsuitable location from the audience’s perspective it may be – but the band eventually come to appreciate it, with James praising the evening chill as a refreshing change from the baking hot weather of their recent outdoor appearances. And from the moment Circuital’s opening track ‘Victory Dance’ commences the set, the crowd is lured into a state of absorption allowing a near-hypnotic, self-indulgent but wholly charming “jam” session to commence.

Rebekah Brooks might be all but dead and buried from today, but her frightful mop is evidently very much alive on the head of James. He interacts with his band members through the casual wave of frilly hair, and they stomp feet collectively to ‘I’m Amazed’, a rare beauty on dud album Evil Urges. That song aside, much of the set’s finest moments come from their most critically-acclaimed record Z or major-label breakthrough It Still Moves. ‘Off the Record’ is even better than anticipated and ‘Mahgeetah’ stirs the crowd into a frenzy.

In its credit, Circuital’s songs manage to fit nicely alongside the welcoming arms of the earlier records – a surprise when you consider the relatively muted response the release was given over here in the UK. Nothing can top Z’s ‘Gideon’ in terms of spark and energy, but it’s not as if the two preceding songs – both from the latest record and show openers – fail to bring about a sense of appreciation.

By the time ‘One Big Holiday’ gives a rejoicing audience the opportunity to bask in the final minutes of a long evening, you’re more than convinced that any of this band’s material would suit Somerset House – any setting, even. This band have always had to adapt, finding new fans from the unlikeliest of corners – from ‘American Dad’ viewers to country-rock loyalists – so thinking about it, this was never going to be much of a challenge.