C. J. Walsh

Gov’t Mule

May 1st, 2021

Westville Music Bowl – New Haven, Connecticut

View: About 20 rows back.

In the wake of over a half-million dead in the U.S. from Covid-19, a trickle of concerts have returned with Gov’t Mule doing a three-night stand at the Music Bowl.

The opening salvo was the Staple Singers’ Hammer And Nails and though Warren Haynes remained stationary their set ventured far and wide. Few bands jam with the daring and precision as the Mule. Who else could tackle Radiohead’s Creep and Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine with conviction and without irony? Later, Haynes revisited his Allman Brothers days with a poignant version of Dreams.

 Elsewhere we heard Mr. Man, Haynes’ full-tilt boogie anthem for the common man. The band delivered a brilliant take on the Beatles’ She Said She Said, a staple of their ‘90s shows. While Mule and Temporary Saint harkened back to the early days before bassist Allen Woody’s passing.

They called it a night with a nod to the original jam band, The Grateful Dead, by way of The Other One.

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Published in Record Collector Magazine August 2021

 

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