Carl Broemel - The Montrose Room - Rosemont, IL - 2010-5-7

My Morning Jacket's very own Carl Broemel played an excellent, and rare, show last night opening up for Michael McDermott at The Montrose Room in Rosemont, IL. The room is tiny and the sound was great, even the worst seat in the house at this place is great. About 20 minutes before Carl took the stage I had the chance to talk to him for a minute and grab an autograph. I mentioned we were in Columbus on the 2nd and that his new song "Carried Away" is great. He really made me laugh when he said "Thanks for coming to see me at the airport!" He seems like a very genuine dude and it was pretty cool to meet him.

Carl came out and picked up his vintage looking Gibson acoustic. I don't know his song titles well enough to have been able to pick them out of the air but if I'm not mistaken he opened with "Enough" from his great solo record Lose What's Left. His set was pretty much Lose What's Left in it's entirety with at least one new song ("Carried Away"). Carl really blew me away though. I've had his solo record for a long time now and I've always really enjoyed it, I really believe it's a hidden treasure He uses loops like crazy! It was great to watch him work all the pedals and do all these things at once. He bounced around from the aged Gibson acoustic, a black semi-hollow Les-Paul looking guitar (I'm assuming it's custom) and his pedal steel, often returning to each of these multiple times in one song. This video of "Carried Away" is a pretty fine example of his looping prowess:





To close the night out he played "Lollipop" (see video on YouTube). It was novel and somewhat comical finish to a great solo set. Carl mentioned he has a solo record coming out around August. I didn't have the opportunity to speak with him after the show (he looked busy with what appeared to be family) to get details but I get the impression the record is going to be more full versions of the majority of songs that are found on Lose What's Left. That is not fact, just my impression.

It's hard to write more without a set list but there were several songs that really blew me away. His looping was incredibly smooth and effective and watching him work was a true pleasure. I've enjoyed Lose What's Left since I first heard it but after seeing him perform on a tiny stage by himself I am positive that Jim James is not the only gifted song writer in My Morning Jacket.