"Damn sure better than the rain"
Gov't Mule (w/opener Back Door Slam) The Orpheum Theatre Boston 10/31/08
Warren Haynes is a hardworking man. I've seen him perform three times, each time with a different band. A hard rocking blues guitarist, Haynes currently has regular gigs playing with the Allman Brothers, The Dead, and Gov't Mule, not to mention his frequent solo tours or the eponymous Warren Haynes Band. I kind of suspect that if he ever stopped touring for a moment his body would collapse from years of built up exhaustion. Sort of like a rock and roll perpetual motion machine.
On Halloween night 2008 I made my way over to the Orpheum Theatre to catch Gov't Mule play what promised to be an interesting show. For those who don't know, in the jam band community Halloween shows are considered to be special occasions. Many bands will "dress up" as another band for one of their sets, covering songs by that band or even performing entire albums. For example the band Phish, who were one of the first bands to popularize practice, famously played Loaded by the Velvet Underground on Halloween 1998. Rumors spread through the lobby and men's room before the show that this year they would be covering Pink Floyd, as apparently an inflatable pig icon had appeared on the band's website that morning. By the time I reached my seat the buzzed crowd had managed to inflate this rumor like some stoned version of telephone, so now not only were they playing "Physical Graffiti by Pink Floyd" but that David Gilmour was in the building and would be sitting in. I even allowed myself to believe that one for half a second, but it of course turned out not to be true.
British blues band Back Door Slam opened the night with an extremely entertaining set. They had a nice mix of blues standards, and original songs that seemed heavily influenced by past British blues bands like Cream. It was easy to see why the Mule would have chosen them to open the tour. Mule then came out and played a strong first set of their own songs, as well as a fantastic tease of "St. Stephen" by the Grateful Dead, a song that's always been dear to me for obvious reasons.
After a short intermission it was time for the main event. As the band came out the unmistakable wind chasm noises began to make their way around the sound system of the Orpheum, and the band began to play "One of These Days." They then made their way through Pink Floyd's greatest hits, with lots of great little touches thrown to heighten the effect. At the end "Fearless" the soccer hooligan chant that appears on the album version of the song could be heard in the background, and at another point a giant inflatable pig popped out of the side of the stage. My favorite performance may have been their cover of "Have a Cigar." First off, drummer Matt Abts took lead vocal, since the original Floyd version featured guest vocals by a singer named Roy Harper. Secondly they changed some of the lyrics to better suit the band so when it came time to sing the famous line "Which one's Pink?" they changed it to "I really think that's cool/ By the way, which one's the Mule?"
The performance ended with one of the few Floyd songs that I believe was already in the bands repertoire, "Wish You Were Here." Then the lights came up and everyone made their way to the doors with huge smiles on their faces. I had been so dazed by the music before that I hadn't realized so many people had shown up wearing their Halloween costumes. There was Bert & Ernie, Jerry Garcia, there were even two guys dressed up as The Dude and Walter. All of them made there way out into the warm autumn night, the good vibes of the show carrying them off into whatever tricks or treats could be found at this late hour.
On Halloween night 2008 I made my way over to the Orpheum Theatre to catch Gov't Mule play what promised to be an interesting show. For those who don't know, in the jam band community Halloween shows are considered to be special occasions. Many bands will "dress up" as another band for one of their sets, covering songs by that band or even performing entire albums. For example the band Phish, who were one of the first bands to popularize practice, famously played Loaded by the Velvet Underground on Halloween 1998. Rumors spread through the lobby and men's room before the show that this year they would be covering Pink Floyd, as apparently an inflatable pig icon had appeared on the band's website that morning. By the time I reached my seat the buzzed crowd had managed to inflate this rumor like some stoned version of telephone, so now not only were they playing "Physical Graffiti by Pink Floyd" but that David Gilmour was in the building and would be sitting in. I even allowed myself to believe that one for half a second, but it of course turned out not to be true.
British blues band Back Door Slam opened the night with an extremely entertaining set. They had a nice mix of blues standards, and original songs that seemed heavily influenced by past British blues bands like Cream. It was easy to see why the Mule would have chosen them to open the tour. Mule then came out and played a strong first set of their own songs, as well as a fantastic tease of "St. Stephen" by the Grateful Dead, a song that's always been dear to me for obvious reasons.
After a short intermission it was time for the main event. As the band came out the unmistakable wind chasm noises began to make their way around the sound system of the Orpheum, and the band began to play "One of These Days." They then made their way through Pink Floyd's greatest hits, with lots of great little touches thrown to heighten the effect. At the end "Fearless" the soccer hooligan chant that appears on the album version of the song could be heard in the background, and at another point a giant inflatable pig popped out of the side of the stage. My favorite performance may have been their cover of "Have a Cigar." First off, drummer Matt Abts took lead vocal, since the original Floyd version featured guest vocals by a singer named Roy Harper. Secondly they changed some of the lyrics to better suit the band so when it came time to sing the famous line "Which one's Pink?" they changed it to "I really think that's cool/ By the way, which one's the Mule?"The performance ended with one of the few Floyd songs that I believe was already in the bands repertoire, "Wish You Were Here." Then the lights came up and everyone made their way to the doors with huge smiles on their faces. I had been so dazed by the music before that I hadn't realized so many people had shown up wearing their Halloween costumes. There was Bert & Ernie, Jerry Garcia, there were even two guys dressed up as The Dude and Walter. All of them made there way out into the warm autumn night, the good vibes of the show carrying them off into whatever tricks or treats could be found at this late hour.
