My Morning Jacket cancels Chicago shows after James falls off stage

263 ReadsPublished Wednesday, Oct 8, 2008 @ 6:36 PM by Jim Collins

Unfortunately, there’ll be no My Morning Jacket in Chicago this weekend. Band leader Jim James took a nasty spill off the stage last night in Iowa City, forcing them to stop the show and postpone the tour’s two remaining sold-out shows at The Chicago Theatre. James was rushed to the hospital, but has since been released. The singer also had to cancel an Obama benefit show tonight at Schuba’s.

The following message posted on the band’s MySpace page explains what happened.

As some of you may have heard we had to cancel our show last evening in Iowa City. We were finishing up the last few bars of "Off The Record", and just like any other night we were all having a great time. Jim went to get closer to the audience on his side of the stage, and as he moved forward to step onto the sub-woofer the lights darkened, and he inadvertently stepped off the stage. Upon falling, he suffered traumatic injuries to his torso, and was immediately taken to the hospital. Per the doctor's orders, Jim will be off the road and recovering from his injuries for the next two to three weeks. Sadly, we must postpone the two shows in Chicago on Thursday and Friday until further notice.

For those who attended the Iowa City show, we would like to extend our gratitude for your understanding and cooperation. We take our fans and performances very seriously, and would never cancel a show unless it was absolutely necessary. Please know that we will be making every effort to return to your fine city.

Thank you so much to our fans for the kind sentiments and well-wishes on Jim's behalf. We hope for Jim's quick recovery and to be back out on the road soon.

With Love,
My Morning Jacket

And here’s a YouTube video of drummer Patrick Hallahan and bandmates telling the crowd about last night’s cancellation.