Picture Show: Weekend at Red Rocks Pt. 1 – RatDog and the Allmans Roll Away The Dew

The Allmans brought the kind of show I like: full of surprises & heavy on exploration. It was a welcome surprise to see up close Gregg Allman looking healthy & upbeat, sounding strong from the first verse of You Don’t Love Me. Les Brers in A Minor set the tone with an early instrumental firestorm, and I noticed for the first time Derek leading the action as he & Warren traded licks, stretching & then whittling down the intervals to fit. Just as she did with Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall during RatDog’s set, Susan Tedeschi sent the heartrates of anyone not already climbing the stairs soaring with her clear, powerful voice on I Ain’t Superstitious & Don’t Think Twice. An equal treat, as most folks know, is Susan’s prowess on the Les Paul, especially counterpointed by husband Derek’s slide.

Completing the Help > Slip suite from RatDog earlier, all the members of Bobby’s troop joined the Allmans for Franklin’s Tower, lighting up every face in the crowd and on the stage. Dreams and Mountain Jam in the same show sows the grounds for major improv, and though jams developed sweet and patiently they also swelled to fruition and frenzy with stunning ease. Just as Mountain Jam seemed to be gliding back to earth, out of the blue comes the most wicked Dazed & Confused to crumble any doubt that this band delivers live like no other.

Worth more than a mention was Gregg performing Sweet Melissa on acoustic, as well as Oteil including Little Martha in his solo. Oteil on 4-string most of the night meant the rocks were slamming with good vibes, and Whipping Post sent my head reeling happily around, taking in as much from above, behind & around as well as digging the Brotherhood of Light melting on the sandstone.