If the prospect of once again hanging with the family, barbecuing and watching sporting events over Labor Day Weekend doesn't float your boat, don't despair: There's plenty of great music to groove to in South Florida (assuming Gustav doesn't veer north and wash away all our fun).

Kick out the jams Friday night with My Morning Jacket, an eclectic five-piece group from Louisville, Ky., that blends elements of jazz, funk, psychedelic and even country music into a coherent sound. They take the stage at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater in support of their fifth studio album, Evil Urges, which reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200 after its release in June.

Bands like My Morning Jacket traditionally have a hard time finding significant commercial success. From a marketing standpoint, it's difficult to pinpoint just who exactly is MMJ's audience.

Answer: Fans of exhilarating rock music that expertly straddles the line between classic and experimental.

Led by the ghostly, soaring vocals of singer/songwriter and guitarist Jim James (think the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne merging with Neil Young and Roy Orbison), MMJ creates highly melodic songs that are at once anthemic and tight, playful yet musically deft, equally fit for scrutinizing on headphones or dancing at an outdoor festival.

Don't call My Morning Jacket a jam band, but they share certain similarities to one of the most revered jam bands of all time -- Phish. The defunct group produced a dizzyingly creative body of work, and delighted in sending crowds on zany journeys through improbable cover songs (even entire albums, such as The Beatles' ``White Album'').

My Morning Jacket has been known to choose unusual covers as well, such as Erykah Badu's Tyrone,Kool and the Gang's Get Down on It and Motley Crue's Home Sweet Home,lending a sense that they could pull off just about anything live.

''Yeah, maybe,'' says bassist ''Two Tone Tommy'' Blankenship. 'We did [Sly and the Family Stone's] Hot Fun in the Summertime,and I could never imagine a 2 ½-minute song being that complicated. I think that's part of the fun -- picking songs like that which are kind of a challenge, or just stuff that we love. And I think half the time it's a case of, `Wouldn't it be funny if we played this song?' or 'Oh my God, I can't believe anyone would ever play that -- let's try it.' So, some of the best stuff creatively comes from joking with friends.''

The band has earned its reputation as one of the best live acts around, consistently giving fans their money's worth.

'The entire tour has been `An Evening With . . .,' so they've been 2 ½- or three-hour shows,'' says Blankenship. 'When we play live, we're feeding off each others' energy and there's this little microcosm of energy from the crowd bouncing back at us.''

In addition to live favorites such as One Big Holiday, Off the Record, Gideon, Lowdown and O Is the One That Is Real, MMJ will perform the bulk of Evil Urges,which Blankenship describes as ''like revisiting sounds we've done before, like all our records before combined, in a mixing bowl.'' But fans can expect a few surprises as well.

''There's stuff in our catalog that we always play, but we've got a rarities list that we delve into every show to try to switch it up,'' he says.

OTHER SHOWS

• Slightly Stoopid: Reggae-rock group from Ocean Beach, Calif., fuses acoustic rock and blues with reggae, hip-hop and punk. Supporting acts are Pepper and dub masters Sly & Robbie.

The show is 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton; Ticketmaster; $32.50.

• John Mayer: It might seem like Mayer performs in South Florida more often than most other rock acts -- but that's a good thing. The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter has developed into one of rock's finest guitarists.

The concert is at 7 p.m. Sunday at Cruzan Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansbury's Way, West Palm Beach; 561-793-0445, Livenation.com or Ticketmaster; $30 festival lawn, $40-$55.50 reserved seating.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@