Gov’t Mule is a genre all their own. Part jam band, part blues band, part straight up rock band, a three-hour Gov’t Mule show plays as a history of music with a mix of covers, original music, and, of course, extended psychedelic jams. As their Back In The Saddle Tour winds down, guitarist and vocalist Warren Haynes, keyboardist Danny Louis, bassist Kevin Scott, and drummer Terence Higgins (filling in for Matt Abts, more on that later) brought Gov’t Mule back to New Haven, CT and took over a packed College Street Music Hall on a stormy Halloween eve.
Please scroll below for the MisplacedStraws Gov’t Mule live photos and review.
As with most Gov’t Mule shows, the night was divided into 2 sets, each about 75 mins long with a 20 min beak between. That’s about all that’s consistent night to night. No two Mule shows are the same with sets varying wildly every night. Those varying sets show how amazing this group of musicians are. Haynes has long been revered as a guitar great, going back to his days with the Allman Brothers Band, first alongside Dickey Betts and later, Derek Trucks. Haynes has assembled a team of musicians that are some of the best in their field, each member is allowed to stretch out and show what they can do only to be picked up by the others as they fall back into the groove. Founding drummer Matt Abts is sitting out this tour to nurse some nagging injuries but the drum throne is capably filled by Terence Higgins, who has toured with the Warren Haynes Band.
Set one kicked off with a rocking “Slackjaw Jezebel” and the crowd wasted no time rising to their feet dancing. The nine-song set featured a blistering cover of Al Green’s “I’m A Ram” (also on Gov’t Mule’s covers record Mighty High) and a sublime version of 2001’s “Beautifully Broken”. The highlight of the set was the ending play of the extraordinary “Soulshine”. The track was written by Haynes and originally recorded by Larry McCray, however, it’s the 1994 Allman Brothers version featuring Gregg Allman on vocals with Haynes and Betts on guitar that made it a classic. Here, Haynes handles vocals and guitar with the 4-piece band opening up and extending the song.
Set two saw the band stretch out a bit with a few more extended jams. Opening with a cover of Robert Johnson’s “32-20 Blues” was a true treat for the night, as was their classic take on The Band’s “Stage Fright”. The set came to an explosive climax with the debut album classic “Mule” into Van Morrison’s “I’ve Been Working”, and back into “Mule”. The capacity crowd roared through the extended jams as the set came to a close. The single encore, consisting of a jam combining “Fallen Down” into “The Other One” showed once again why Warren Haynes is a master of his craft.
A Gov’t Mule show is a marathon. The band brings its audience on a roller coaster of emotion and keeps them coming back for more. The only downside is that there isn’t much interaction from the stage. There are no stories or song introductions, Haynes prefers to let his music do the talking. The lighting at a Gov’t Mule show more than makes up for the interaction. Each song is bathed in the perfect lighting to reflect the mood and enhance the vibe. And after all, isn’t every Gov’t Mule show about the vibe?
