PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Generally when you go and see a band do a headline tour, you get a set of 90 minutes, or maybe two hours if you’re very lucky, but with Gov’t Mule because they don’t have a support act they do two sets and as a result you can expect them to play for well over two hours – in fact tonight’s show ends up nearer the three hour mark. That’s impressive stuff.
This was my first time seeing the band live, but after hearing several friends rave about how good their gigs are, I was certainly looking forward to it, and the band certainly didn’t disappoint. Right from the start this was a night of top quality blues infused rock music that didn’t feel as scripted as a typical gig. Yes they had a setlist, but the songs seem more like long drawn out jams than anything else, and you certainly get the impression that no two shows are identical.
While the hardcore fans (and there are a lot of them in the venue) know the songs well, for someone who doesn’t know their songs so well, it’s sometimes hard to tell where one song ends and the next starts as unless there is a guitar change needs, they often just go straight from one song into the next. Warren Haynes on guitar and vocals is naturally the focus of attention for much of the show, but this isn’t one man plus
backing musicians, and all the band members get times the spotlight to show just how good they are.
The first set was due to be 70 minutes, but ends up over 90 minutes long by the time the band decide to take a break.
After a short break they returned to the stage and brought on their first guest – guitarist Elliott Randall, best known for his work with Steely Dan. Together they did a cover of the Ann Peebles song “I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” before they brought on two more guests – Saxophonist Joe McGlohon, and guitarist Bernie Marsden, and with the three guests they did another cover – “The thrill is gone”.
There were a couple of touching moments too – they paid tribute to the late BB King, then for the second encore Warren Haynes told the crowd that they had been in touch with Andy Fraser (Free) a few months earlier and he had planned to join them on stage tonight until he sadly passed away, so to pay tribute to him they ended the night with a cover of the Free song “Little bit of love”. A wonderful end to a superb night of music – Gov’t Mule are a superb live band and if you get chance then you really should go and see them.
It’s a show that from start to finish is simply superb.
Setlist:
Set 1;
Bad little doggie
Mr high & mighty
About to rage
Broke down on the Brazos
Tributary jam
Beautifully broken
Captured
I’m a ram
Game face
Kind of bird
Set 2:
I feel like breaking up somebody’s home
The thrill is gone
I’ll be the one
Whisper in your soul
Thorazine shuffle
Mule
Encore 1:
World boss
Encore 2:
Soulshine
Little bit of love
