My Morning Jacket, Jim James & Carl Broemel’s Fall shows 2016:

Over the last month, my hubby and I had the opportunities to see My Morning Jacket in Chattanooga from the front row and Jim James in Atlanta last week in Atlanta.  Also, we saw MMJ guitarist Carl Broemel a couple weeks before the MMJ show play at Eddie’s Attic.  He played songs from his solo album, 4th of July and it was so good. He pretty muchplayed a one man show that nigh, which was cool to see. He came out at the end and met his adoring fans, so we got a chance to chat with him. It was an awesome warm up for the shows yet to come.

Two weeks later:

We are big fans so were elated when we ended up in the very first row at MMJ at the Tivoli Theater in Chattanooga.  It is very similar to the Fox Theater in Atlanta just smaller, it’s a gorgeous theater.  The crowd was great and the show was just absolutely amazing, literally on another level!  We had the best time representing in the front row and their set was spot on.  They went a bit old school, with only a couple songs from the newest release, “Waterfall”.   Long time MMJ fans were definitely satisfied and of course they could have played two more hours (or two days in a row)and we would have loved it!   They also broke out a cover of “Mother” by Pink Floyd and Elton John’s “Rocket Man”. Here is the setlist I was able to nab after the show since we were so close.

I can’t say enough of what a wonderful experience their shows are and every time we see them, they top their last show.  It’s true that I can say that about a lot of my favorite bands, but their shows (to me) are a spiritual  type of experience. I really had to practice my ujjayi pranayama yoga breathing, especially when Jim James stood right in front of us playing the first minute of one of our favorite songs “I Will Sing You Songs”.   It was really an indescribable feeling for him to be right there in front of us, we’ve never been that close at one of their shows and we enjoyed every second of up close views of each band member!

Towards the end of the show, Jim made his way along the stage at first touching index finger to index finger with fans then handshakes by the end. He made one more round again, so we got to shake his hand twice!!

Below are pics taken by CJ Stewart Photography who shot these right by us, to give you an idea of our vantage point. (We were not allowed to take photos.  Although, some did we decided against it since we were in the front and just to soak up the show). He took amazing photos! I love MMJ’s vintage/thrift/dressy style.  I especially love the bass player, Tom’s vest, tie and dress shoes as my hubby has similar style! Jim also has his own unique style and even though he didn’t have his signature embroidered jacket he still dressed the part and has such a great on stage vibe!  Of course Carl, Bo and Patrick all also had great style and loved watching them play!

Then last week, we saw Jim James play his solo show at The Tabernacle in  Atlanta two days before Thanksgiving.  He played songs from both of his solo albums(Eternally Even-newly released and Regions Of Light And Sound Of God) along with a couple covers (from his side projects–Monsters Of Folk and The New Basement Tapes). He had a stand for his guitar that he would play while on it and either leave on there or pick up and keep playing.  I feel like he was even more involved in the crowd than at the MMJ show and that’s saying a lot!  He practices transcendental meditation and you can totally feel that in his stage show, from his movements to being in the moment and encouraging that of his fans(plus “unconditional love”).  He puts out amazing energy and light that I believe the world needs, hopefully we reciprocated that and he felt the same energy back to him a couple thousand times!

His opening band, Twin Limb, was so good and I am now hooked on them.  They also hail from Kentucky and had a female lead singer with a gorgeous voice that played accordion and keyboards and had a cymbal or bell on her ankle that she stomped with the beat.  The drummer was awesome too, she was also on vocals and had a beautiful voice as well.  We also loved their guitarist’s  playing style and vibe.  This band was Jim James’ backing band for his show and it was spectacular!!  Below are pics that I took:

Setlist from setlistfm.com

Hide in Plain Sight
Know Til Now
Same Old Lie
Dear One
A New Life
The World’s Smiling Now
True Nature
I’m Set Free(The Velvet Underground cover)
Here in Spirit
We Ain’t Getting Any Younger Pt. 1
We Ain’t Getting Any Younger Pt. 2
In the Moment
Eternally Even
Encore:
Of the Mother Again
Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)   (Monsters of Folk cover)
Down on the Bottom (The New Basement Tapes cover)
State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.)