MCB’s own Drew Bender was on hand taking photos and had a chance to interview Warren Haynes before the show. The video of that should be up soon, but for now, check out his photos and read on for his full write up of the show.
I’d recently seen Mule while covering the Rothbury Festival for MCB this past July and as I’ve come to learn, I never seem to find myself disappointed. The Royal Oak Music Theatre (or RÖMT as it’s come to be known at my house) was at roughly two-thirds capacity as white suburbanites donned their Harley-Davidson shirts. The crowd seemed predominantly an older group and while Mule certainly has its own fanbase, the degree of overlap between them and fans of the Allman Brothers and the Dead could easily be represented in a Venn diagram (but I’ll refrain). Which is to say that the crowd mainly consisted of guys (I’d hazard a 4:1 male:female) hippies young and old, bikers, vets, auto workers, middle and upper-middle class professionals all there to rock out with Warren and the boys. The women there were certainly enjoying themselves, but it was something of a kielbasa klatsch. As a former cigarette junkie smoker as of a couple of years ago I enjoy going to shows where I don’t reek afterwards (I’m just saying, it sticks to my clothes…) but there was something a bit odd about this large group and the fragrant wafting scents were only detected once or twice. Which is to say that the ROMT security was in full effect, and I’m curious to see what the future has in store for the far-from-great-sounding venue as they continue to under promote so many shows.
As for the show itself, opening up with a ‘Broke Down On The Brazos’ off of their newest album By a Thread (just out today), Mule chose a nice placement for this song as opener. They then returned to old roots with Larger Than Life, which transitioned into Rockin' Horse and then into Banks Of The Deep End. Then again came three more songs off of the new album; although they’ve been playing them well before the album was released, the audience responded very well to Haynes soulful playing, and Carlsson’s heavy, chunked out bass licks. All the while Abst kept the skins slamming along rather masterfully and his own extended drums solo had the crowd’s rapt attention as he played a djembe with his left hand while his right held a stick keeping beat and his feet were busy in a dance he made look way too cool. The placement of the song Soulshine early in the second set prominently featured Louis’ keys which kept bringing us all back to church on that Sunday night. Throughout it all, Haynes soulful southern vocals continued to impress and were certainly up to par with his improvisational but intentional picking and fretwork on a series of guitars. I’m partial to his Les Paul, personally, but the Gibson non-reverse Firebird is similarly sweet sounding in his more than capable hands. Some notable covers from the evening included a pounding, dirty version of Zeppelin’s ‘When the Levee Breaks’ and a double encore with Jackie Greene of the Dead’s ‘Loser’ and Neil Young’s ‘Southern Man,’ both personal favorites that had the crowd dancing and screaming for more. Quite the evening. Indeed.
Click here for the link to the torrent file (if you have to ask, don’t worry about it – or ask that young neighbor kid, or fer chrissakes, just google the damn thing) for the show as recorded by my good friend and taper extraordinaire Z-Man. Even if you missed it on Sunday night - definitely worth a listen.
WERD!!
-drew