Allman Brothers Say Farewell With Three Sets At Beacon

There would be no The Allman Brothers Band without Duane Allman and the group made sure to hammer that point home as they brought a 45-year legendary career to what looks to be its end at The Beacon Theatre with a marathon three-set performance on Tuesday night.

Duane was represented in many ways throughout the final run at the New York City theater, yet none more so than tonight. Not only did guitarist Derek Trucks use Duane’s famed 1957 Goldtop Les Paul at points in the night, but the ABB also opened the show with the late guitarist’s “Little Martha” instrumental, performed the most complete version yet of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken?” -a song the band played at Duane’s funeral -and ended the show after midnight on October 28, the 43rd anniversary of Skydog’s passing.

“I think Duane’s presence is part of the moment by moment journey that this band is still on, both musically and from a vision standpoint,” Warren Haynes told Alan Paul before the show. “A lot of times, if there’s a musical question the answer somehow relates to what Duane’s approach would be. Musically, he’s very much with us, and always has been.”

The Allman Brothers Band came out of the gates with “Little Martha” > “Mountain Jam” just before 9 p.m. and finished the third set just before 1 a.m. with the second half of “Mountain Jam” before putting a cap on the evening with one last “Whipping Post” encore and even tacked on “Trouble No More” for good measure (The Allmans recorded a rendition of the Muddy Waters’ classic for their 1969 debut album, but more importantly it was the first song the original band ever played). In between there were tons of emotional moments as the lineup put their all into the final performance of such beloved and fitting songs like “Ain’t Wasting Time No More,” “Midnight Rider,” “One Way Out,” “Southbound,” “The Sky Is Crying” and “Revival.”

OG Allmans Gregg Allman (Age 66), Butch Trucks (Age 67) and Jaimoe (Age 70) stepped up to create a powerful force throughout the marathon concert. Once again, “Dreams” and “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed” served as the improvisational meat of the second set with guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks adding an extra gear to their transmissions. Gregg told the crowd “the night is still young!” before “Liz Reed” giving fans a hint of what was to come. The third set was unannounced, so there were plenty of missed trains for attendees who weren’t going anywhere when they found out the third set was in front of them. The Allman Brothers Band were met with a huge standing ovation and the sound of stomping feet as they finally left the stage. You can hear the entire show via a SiriusXM broadcast premiering tomorrow at noon ET.

Watch the speeches Gregg, Jaimoe and Butch gave before book-ending The Allman Brothers Band career with “Trouble No More”:

We’ll see what the future holds for all the principals. Gregg Allman has his own band as does Jaimoe and of course Derek Trucks fronts Tedeschi Trucks Band and Warren Haynes leads Gov’t Mule. For now, The Allman Brothers Band went out on a high note, something that didn’t seem so likely a week ago. Duane would be proud.

Set One: Little Martha > Mountain Jam > Don’t Want You No More > Not My Cross to Bear > One Way Out, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Midnight Rider, High Cost of Low Living, HotLanta, Blue Sky, You Don’t Love Me

Set Two: Statesboro Blues, Ain’t Wasting Time No More, Black Hearted Woman, The Sky is Crying, Dreams, Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed

Set Three: Melissa, Revival, Southbound, Mountain Jam > Will The Circle Be Unbroken? > Mountain Jam

Encore: Whipping Post, Trouble No More