My Morning Jacket are no strangers to Austin City Limits, having played the long-running PBS music program in 2006 and 2008. This does not even include the four times frontman Jim James has guested on the show with his solo band, Monsters of Folk, Bright Eyes and Preservation Hall Jazz Band. So it was only fitting that Jim James and co. returned to the stage of ACL once again on Monday night, this time in support of their most recent album, 2015’s The Waterfall.
Not surprisingly, songs off The Waterfall would make up the bulk of the set with material off older notable albums like Z and Evil Urges not making any appearances. The audience hardly seemed to mind, many of whom actually seemed excited to see how the newer songs would mesh in the live setting. But first, the title track off 2011’s Circuital kicked off the performance with a jubilant rush as Jim James let his voice soar over the band’s buoyant arena-ready rock. After “Believe (Nobody Knows)” it was clear the band would be mostly alternating between songs off Circuital and The Waterfall for much of the night, which provided the audience a contrast between where My Morning Jacket has been and where they are at this moment in their career. There was no denying the poppier prog rock sounds of songs like “Spring (Among The Living)”, yet even this material didn’t stop the band from building their signature soundscapes that are as big and dramatic as possible, and occasionally psychedelic on a Pink Floyd sort of trip.
One of the highlights of the night actually came when the band played their newest song, “Throwback (When We Were Young)”, which felt like a power pop number with traces of alt-country and included fiery dueling guitar work from Jim James and Carl Broemel. “Tropics (Erase Traces)” followed with an extended guitar intro that was both quiet and suspenseful before the song erupted into Technicolor bliss and the band brought things down with the slow burning R&B harmonies of “Only Memories Remain”.
Though My Morning Jacket has been honoring Prince on their current tour with tastefully chosen covers, they chose to stick to their own catalogue at ACL on Monday night, an appropriate choice considering copyright restrictions would probably not allow any of the Purple One’s songs to make it onto TV. The five-song encore saw familiar favorites like “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” and “Mahgeetah” being tested alongside new stuff, like the infectious 80’s synths of “Compound Fracture”. Coming in at just under two hours, My Morning Jacket showed this intimate audience how they’ve continued to expand their sound and solidify their place as one of the few truly great rock bands playing at such a high level.
All photos by Scott Newton courtesy of KLRU/Austin City Limits
