ABB @ The Beacon: Then Came Hornsby

The name of nearly every legendary performer has been thrown out as a potential guest for the Allman Brothers Band’s 40th Anniversary Run at the Beacon, but no one ever mentioned the name Bruce Hornsby. The former Grateful Dead keyboardist sat in for entire second set tonight lending his masterful piano work on a seventy minute four song set that included a cover of Bill Withers’ Grandma Hands, The Band’s The Night They Drove Ol’ Dixie Down as well as ABB classics In Memory of Elizabeth Reed and Jessica.

[Moogis Screenshots]

Hornsby wasn’t the only special guest at tonight’s show. The Juke Horns emerged early on in the first set for The Same Thing and Soulshine. After that, New Jersey’s own Southside Johnny and soulful guitarist Susan Tedeschi joined the band and the horn section for Little By Little. Tedeschi stayed on for Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice and Lost Lover before the horns came back out to close the set with Stand Back.

Here’s tonight’s setlist:

Set 1: Little Martha, One Way Out, Statesboro Blues, Black Hearted Woman, The Same Thing w/ The Juke Horns, Soulshine w/ The Juke Horns, Little By Little w/ Susan Tedeschi, Southside Johnny and The Juke Horns, Lost Lover Blues w/ Susan, Stand Back w/ Susan and The Juke Horns

Set 2 :Grandma’s Hands w/ Bruce Hornsby, Susan and The Juke Horns, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed w/ Bruce, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down w/ Bruce, Jessica w/ Bruce

Encore: Southbound w/ The Juke Horns, Susan Tedeschi, Bruce Hornsby and Susan Tedeschi

Quite the weekend at the Beacon, in fact – quite the run of ten shows. For the past six months this band has promised the 2009 Beacon run would be the best in their history and after ten shows they’ve far surpassed my wildest expectations. You can still follow the action of the five remaining shows live as they happen at Moogis.