April 20, 1998

Well, Thursday night I was run over by a truck and kicked by a Mule. An unusually excellent lineup at the House Of Blues (i.e. the opening act as good as the headliner) gave everyone a full night of really good music.

I admit I'm a sucker for power trios...I love groups like Cream, Mountain, Chris Duarte, Robin Trower, etc..., who combine a single guitar, bass and drums into great rock and roll and blues. There's something about a basic three-piece group that I really like. Gov't Mule is one part Cream, one part Mountain, one part jam band, and several parts of other genres and bands. Not too many people are doing that these days, and it's a welcome change from the "depressed women who hate men" music that seems to be all you hear these days.

Warren Haynes (vocals and guitar), Allen Woody (bass), and Matt Abts (drums) put on an excellent show even though Warren had a head cold and was not feeling his best. Opening up with the song "Grinnin' In Your Face", they played several songs from the new CD iDose. Even thought the show was not up to the intensity of their sold out shows at the Sapphire Supper club,(due to Warren's cold) they still delivered an excellent set for two hours and twenty minutes of heavy power trio music. Playing original music along with music as diverse as the Beatles' "She Said, She said", they kept the appreciative audience going all night. The original set lasted 90 minutes, and then they came out with Derek Trucks and Bill McKay (keyboards for Derek) for a 50 minute three-song encore set. Derek and Warren traded licks for quite a while on "Spanish Moon". The only problem was that the HOB sound guys did not have Derek up very high in the mix until later in the set. There were shouts of "turn up the slide guitar" coming from the crowd until things got better.

There were at least three tapers in the hall, so tapes of the show will be circulating amongst the Gov't Mule fan club (send e-mail to EMULE@NETSPACE.ORG to find out about the fan club and to obtain information about tape trading). Gov't Mule is one a group of bands that allow taping of their shows. It allows the fans to get tapes of the shows they go to and helps spread the word about the band. I think this is a highly intelligent idea, and there are several successful bands out there who credit their success to the tape-trading fans.

The Derek Trucks band opened the show. I have heard about Derek Trucks for years but have not heard him play until Thursday night. The kid is awesome. His slide guitar playing is about as tasty as you can get. Several people told me that he used to be pretty much traditional blues slide guitar, however, he is now going out into a new direction incorporating jazz influences into his playing, and he is doing it VERY well. He really has his own sound...I can honestly say I have NEVER heard anyone play guitar like he was doing, and I am looking forward to seeing him again. His new CD, "The Derek Trucks Band" is an excellent representation of his live show and having listened to it, I can recommend it highly.

The rest of the band is also excellent. Todd Smallie (bass), Yonrico Scott (drums) and Bill McKay (keyboard) really fill out the sound. Scott is particularly impressive on the drums. (This is coming from a guitar player...If I notice the drummer...he must be really good!!!) One of the highlights of the evening was when Derek brought out his 9-year-old brother to sit in on the drums for one song. Barely high enough to see over the set, the kid did a pretty good job. Music must run in the genes in that family.

Overall...Gov't Mule gets a 10 even though Warren was sick, and Derek Trucks gets a Spinal Tap 11!!

Murf Murphy Murf is a registered professional engineer....(i.e. haircut and a real job) who loves to play guitar. Vist Murf's home page. He lives with (1) wife who wishes he would grow up, (1) teenager who wonders how his parents got to this point in their lives without his help, (2) dogs who sleep a lot, (1) ferret who attacks when not looking and (1) cat who is basically useless. Other Articles I've Written