Review: Gov’t Mule Takes It to The Streets

Predetermined regional expectations aside, the quintet – featuring a bonus extra guitar player – did deliver the goods. The pronounced separation between Isbell’s stint with Drive-By Truckers and the present day have allowed his songwriting style to flourish while the band matures and grows tighter. His smooth southern sound and lyrically engaging subject matter, combined with the band’s dynamic range, allow him to craft hole-stompin’ ‘Bama-via-Texas twang rock (Try), piano-centric roots shuffles (Chicago Promenade), and contemplative country-tinged blues (Cigarettes and Wine). Solos are well placed, rising up out of the band’s connective tissue only when appropriate, making their sound more reminiscent of The Band or Wilco than their tour mates, Gov’t Mule.

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I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Warren Haynes perform dozens of times in a wide variety of settings, and every time I see him, he manages to impress exponentially. Besides his remarkable playing, his guitar tone and presence alone are something to behold, as incomprehensibly large chords charge out of his amplifiers like ballistic missiles. With Danny Louis on keys, the infallible Matt Abts on drums, and recent addition Jorgen Carlsson on bass, Haynes has finally put the nasty streak back into the Mule.

Carlsson’s emergence on bass brings former bass man Andy Hess’ influence to an end. Hess’ milder style, which never quite fit with Haynes’ and Abts’ bombastic playing, has been replaced by Carlsson’s markedly deeper, more aggressive approach. He’s jumpstarted a Mule resurgence in the process, inspiring heavier playing from the whole band and allowing them to incorporate songs from across their entire repertoire. The result of this invigoration means wildly unpredictable setlists and a return to mind-blowing form for the band.

The Raleigh show began quite dubiously with the Allen Woody tribute track Banks of the Deep End, and the performers quickly entranced an appreciative, reverent crowd of all stripes. Louis stepped up with some inspiring keyboard work before Haynes offered a brief solo. A trio of latter-day Mule staples – the restless Slackjaw Jezebel, the salacious reggae breakdowns of I’m A Ram, and the pummeling Mr. High and Mighty – preceded a gut-wrenching guitar workout on the pliable Catfish Blues and a dose of mean, clean rock on Fool’s Moon. “You’re making us sweat up here” Haynes said though the late-evening humidity haze, toweling off yet again.

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Jason Isbell sat in on a rare Mule performance of Neil Young’s Don’t Let It Bring You Down, trading vocal verses with Haynes and adding some ghostly guitar to the song’s spooky structure. Haynes plodded through the beginning of Effigy, perhaps due to the somewhat oppressive heat and humidity he had alluded to earlier. The band’s move into the uptempo, country-rock pace of the Effigy jam acted as a cool breeze, however, and Haynes quickly recovered with a righteous chicken-pickin’ solo. Spurred on by the insistent rhythm of Abts, the band delved into a lengthy instrumental visit to Folsom Prison, which was markedly more jubilant in tone than Johnny Cash’s version. The slightly awkward but rewarding transition back into the Effigy ending brought the sweltering first set to a close.

The weary vibe of the first set’s ending manifested in the beginning of the second set, which started with a questionably placed Child of the Earth opener. The arrival of Mr. Big, an early-day Mule staple that has grown increasingly rare over the years, couldn’t have been better timed, and they followed it up with the surreal tones of Birth of the Mule. Birth of the Mule was a bedrock tune for the band during the Woody years, and the song’s instrumentally enticing open-ended structure has found new life with Carlsson engineering the low end. His style is a versatile mix that blends jazzy dexterity with earth-shaking power, a perfect pair to provide low end for the Mule. The band languished in Birth of the Mule, meeting each other at the song’s sublime head between extended moments of soloing and playful group improvisation.

The band then rode Abts like a rented mule, snarling through a ferocious Like Flies before vacating the stage and letting Abts drum up a wide variety of ideas. At first entertaining, the drum solo quickly grew intolerable and served to magnify the odd flow of the second set. Louis and Carlsson returned, and an impromptu bass/drums/keys jam petered out as Haynes’ invoked Hendrix’s Little Wing, a welcome but curious choice that couldn’t rekindle the first set’s superior energy. Thankfully, the climax of the set was more engaging, with oldies Left Coast Groovies and Mule receiving a reinvigorated response from the audience.

Both of these classic tunes crackled with the energy that is necessary to put a show over the top. Notes from Haynes’ guitar sliced the air like daggers, penetrating the band’s spiraling funk-rock with grace and precision. The outstanding Mule even featured a unique funk jam that incorporated classics from Earth, Wind and Fire and Kool and the Gang. “That’s an old trick I learned from Frank Zappa” quipped Haynes after unexpectedly requesting the band to play the piece again. Zappa’s bands set new standards for tightness and spontaneous maneuverability, and Gov’t Mule is one of the few active groups that so much as approach that level of musicianship.

The encore featured two scarcely performed songs and encapsulated the up-and-down nature of the show. Tony Joe White’s lyrically triumphant dirge Out of the Rain and the historically curious Mule original Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man comprised the band’s final musical salvo, and they went for broke on the latter. Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man is a hammering, growling number that fits the current Mule lineup perfectly, and it wouldn’t be surprising for the seldom-seen song to turn up more frequently as 2009 rolls on.

Gov’t Mule’s latest visit to Raleigh found the band in a transitional period, admittedly re-discovering a huge catalog of songs that offers endless possibilities. While the show had some issues with pacing, the band never disappointed with their performance and exhibited that the process of incorporating Carlsson’s abilities will be gradual and intensely interesting. Their current renaissance is sorely needed, and it will doubtlessly result in many more legendary shows that will further establish Gov’t Mule as the premier force in hard-hitting electric blues-rock.

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