Photos by: Rebecca Carter
Currently joined on tour by Robert Randolph and The Family
Band, The Allman Brothers made a solo stop in Boston for two nights of sold out
shows that were the only nights of this tour that included two full-on ABB
sets.
The first set was back-to-back with Allman Brothers’
classics, opening with “Hot ‘Lanta” and including “Statesboro Blues,”
“Soulshine,” “Trouble No More” and “Revival.” But it wouldn’t be doing the
Brothers justice to simply say that the first set was just the “crowd
pleasers.” With each member so individually talented and known for adding their
own flare, what might have been a hit parade for any other band was more like a
talent exhibition for the Allmans. Between the dueling solos of Warren Haynes
and Derek Trucks and the zoned-out melodic swaying of Oteil Burbridge, it was
tough to decide who to focus on. Drummers Butch Trucks, Jaimoe and Marc
Quinones all sat in perfect rhythm amongst what looked like a spaceship
concocted of drum parts and Gregg Allman seemed almost inconspicuously hidden
off to the side behind a mass of keyboards.
They opened the second set with Gregg Allman taking center
stage armed with his acoustic for “Melissa” before taking the audience into the
realms of psychedelic jamming, replete with a multi-colored swirling mushroom
back drop. Throughout the first set, the guitar focus was on Derek Trucks, but
in the second Haynes took the spotlight with his particularly subtle way of
“making it cry,” especially on “Melissa” and “Key to the Highway” which
followed. The band was joined by Susan Tedeschi on guitar and vocals for
“Anyday” and “Lost Lover Blues,” both of which shifted perfectly between the
roots of blues and jazz before climaxing with the full on freak-out jam of
“Leave My Blues at Home,” JaBuMa” back into “Leave My Blues at Home” to end the
set.
Not to belittle the talents of Robert Randolph and The
Family Band, or celebrate their absence, but after The Allman Brothers’ opening
night in Boston it was obvious that nothing was missed and anymore time devoted
to the Brothers’ music is definitely a good thing.
Set 1: Hot ‘Lanta,
Statesboro Blues, Every Hungry Woman, Good Morning Little School Girl,
Soulshine, Trouble No More, Woman Across the River, Revival
Set 2: Melissa, Key
to the Highway, Dreams, Anyday, Lost Lover Blues, Leave My Blues at Home,
JaBuMa, Leave My Blues at Home E: Whipping Post
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