Friday, February 7, 2014

My Morning Jacket's One Big Holiday at Hard Rock Hotel, Riviera Maya, Mexico - 1/26-1/30/14

My Morning Jacket’s One Big Holiday at the new Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico was THE most uniquely fabulous & amazing concert-going experience of my life!!! And I like to think that’s saying a lot because I have been to a LOT of concerts & festivals! MMJ’s three 2 ½+ hour performances on Sunday, Monday & Wednesday were my 13th through 15th MMJ shows ever & I'm already so stoked for #16 & beyond! 
  

I went to Mexico thinking I was a diehard My Morning Jacket fan but it turns out I'm currently only SOMEWHAT diehard (although I think attending OBH definitely kicks me up a few notches! Lol!). Every single person who attended OBH was super friendly & approachable. All you’d have to do is catch eyes with someone as you passed one another on a path around the resort & somehow you’d start chatting with that person about where you both were from & raving about how fantastic the resort/shows/MMJ/fans were. I think my roomies & I met at least 1/2 the people at the resort & I'm certain we made some new lifelong friends. 

Getting to combine a tropical/beachy/fruity drinks/waterslide/poolside/sunny Mexican resort vacation experience with some of the best My Morning Jacket (& Flaming Lips!) shows I've ever seen was PURE HEAVEN & the all-inclusive everything feature was pretty unbelievable. Also, I must note that MMJ’s Tuesday night dance party (DJed exclusively by MMJ’s drummer, Patrick Hallahan) was THE most fun & wild dance party pretty much ever! It was only scheduled to last from 1-2:30pm but, at 4am, the party was STILL going strong! One of my favorite moments of the trip was dancing like an idiot with all my (new & old) friends to classic tracks to which we all knew the words by artists like Outkast, Snoop Dogg, Harry Belafonte (shake, shake, shake, senora…work the body line!), Beyonce, Sublime, Talking Heads, etc.

I loved every single second of my MMJ’s One Big Holiday experience & I'm already saving up for next year! I can't stop daydreaming about My Morning Jacket’s One Big Holiday! Take me back, POR FAVOR!

MY MORNING JACKET covering Bruce Springsteen’s Hungry Heart on Night 1 – 1/26/14


Preservation Hall Jazz Band Performing Corina, Corina on Night 2 – 1/27/14


MY MORNING JACKET Performing Off The Record on Night 2 – 1/27/14


Mariachi El Bronx on Night 3 – 1/28/14


Flaming Lips Performing W.A.N.D. on Night 3 – 1/28/14


Flaming Lips Performing She Don't Use Jelly on Night 3 – 1/28/14


Jim James Performing Those Gambler's Blues w/Preservation Hall Jazz Band on Night 4 – 1/29/14


MY MORNING JACKET rockin’ the f*ck out on Night 4 – 1/29/14


My Morning Jacket Performing Wordless Chorus on Night 4 – 1/29/14


My Morning Jacket & Wayne Coyne Covering George Harrison’s Isn't It A Pity on Night 4 – 1/29/14 – When I chatted with Wayne Coyne on the beach earlier that day (prior to taking 1 of my now most cherished photos!), I asked if I’d see him at the final show that night & he said he was pretty sure he was going to cover Isn't It A Pity with MMJ. I then proceeded to tell everyone who would listen about the treat we were in for & felt proud to have been given the inside scoop by Wayne himself J J


12 comments:

  1. Wow that looks like such a great show! I'd love to see My Morning Jacket share the stage with Foster the People. I'm in love with their new single right now http://smarturl.it/FosterMuralCOA

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  2. nice reading this.my husband myself and grandaughter went to this from uk and it was the most astonishing/amazing/wonderful experience we have ever had and such lovely lovely people.my god what a time we all had,saving for next time

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  3. ASTONISHING sums it up quite nicely! :) MMJ, the SUPER friendly & super stoked fans, the resort, the Lips, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Mariachi El Bronx, all inclusive EVERYTHING, the beautiful weather, the waterslide, the lagoon, etc, etc. It was almost too good to be true! I think we're all still trying to figure out if it really even happened! Hope to meet you, your husband & grand-daughter next year! Sounds like you're just about the coolest grandparents EVER! :)

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  4. Thanks for bringing back some amazing memories. We had super high expectations going into this and they were exceeded at every turn. PS I am still wearing my OBH bracelet! :)

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  5. That's so awesome, Laura! I reluctantly took my bracelet off on 2/10 because I had an interview & figured it wouldn't look super professional but I REALLY wanted to leave it on!

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  6. I notice you mentioned "next year" a couple times. . . do you know if it's been confirmed that they're doing the same gig in 2015? I was absolutely dying to go this year but just couldn't make it work with my schedule. Based on all the great comments and photos I'm already regretting it!

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  7. Hi Allison! I don't know for sure that they're doing another OBH in 2015 but they kept referring to "next year" while we were there which made everyone believe next year is already a go. Fingers crossed!! It's an expensive trip but, once you get there & see & experience everything included in that price, it suddenly seems like almost a deal! Hope to see you there NEXT YEAR!!! B-)

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  8. your pics are great! We are def. going back if they do it again in 2015!! Does anyone know if Cloud9 will be doing this again? Fingers crossed!! :)

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  9. I REALLY hope Cloud9 will be doing this again but, as of this time last year, they'd already announced the 2014 OBH so I'm wondering if perhaps they're going to do it later in the year? I'm definitely eager for a 2015 OBH announcement!

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  10. OBH 2015 is just a couple months away. MMJ, Band Of Horses, The War On Drugs, PHJB, Biz Markie DJing!I I can't wait!! Hope you got your tickets!

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  11. I actually, SUPER unfortunately, can't make it to OBH2 BUT that just means I'll have extra time to save up for & GET CRAZY PUMPED for OBH3!! I'm definitely bummed to miss Dr. Dog, BOH & The War on Drugs though!!!

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  12. Bummer!!! Your post has got me pumped up for it though!

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