Show Review

In the world of music it is rare to find a band that can withstand the tests of time, but on October 17 at Boston’s Orpheum Theater, Warren Haynes and Matt Abts took the stage with newly-named permanent bass player Andy Hess and keyboardist Danny Louis to show why Gov’t Mule is one of those rarities.

Chris Robinson’s New Earth Mud took the stage first to warm-up the crowd and did so in truly worthy fashion. It was a short set at around forty-five minutes, but that was all it took for Chris to show that he has moved on from the Black Crowes with maturity and a fresh sense of his own style, both in his music and lyric writing abilities. There is no denying the blues roots of their sound, but there is a more Zeppelin-esque quality to their music. Paul Stacey on guitar adds a heavier sound than the Crowes ever played with, and their song selection showed the wide range they can cover in such a short set, from the heavy sound of “Tree of Love” to the Crowes-like blues of “Silver Car” to Clapton’s “Blues Power,” New Earth Mud showed great range while revving up the crowd.

Then came Gov’t Mule and Warren Haynes once again showed why he is one of the elite guitarists of the day. The first set, which ultimately ran about seventy-five minutes, started with a standard list of Mule tunes that Warren jammed-out in the way only he can, and then came the first surprise of the night – Chris Robinson and Paul Stacey came out to join in for the closing of the set. They started with David Crosby’s “Almost Cut My Hair” with Warren and Chris switching off on the lyrics and Paul Stacy jumping in with a ripping solo. Then the crowd went crazy when they broke into the Black Crowes “Sometimes Salvation.” It was great to see the Crowes tune considering Chris said he would not play songs from his old band with New Earth Mud, and Warren showed that his voice is as powerful as his guitar by out singing Chris in his own song.

Unlike the first set, the second set was far from the typical Mule setlist. It was as if Mule was early for Halloween and they donned many masks in a set full of cover tunes. The most notable were the Beatles “Want You So Bad” which led into the longest, deepest jam of the night and showed Warren’s almost god-like power over the crowd, and Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” in which keyboardist Danny Louis took over and showed just how much he brought to the table. Closing the set was The Who's “Eminence Front” which brought the crowd as high as they had been all night. For the encore, Mule returned to the blues with a version of “Youngman’s Blues” that Warren filled with so many teases it was impossible to keep up with them all.

There is no denying Gov’t Mule’s power on stage, and any chance you have to see Warren Haynes displaying his magical guitar is one worth taking. You will not be disappointed.

Photograph courtesy of Robert Massie. For more of his work, please visit jampics.com.