Gov’t Mule Throws Back To 1971 With Yola, Jackie Greene, Louis Cato & More On New Year’s Eve At The Beacon Theatre

Gov’t Mule welcomed 2026 with a marathon two-set New Year’s Eve concert at The Beacon Theatre in New York City. Special guests Yola, Jackie Greene, Louis Cato and the Chronic Horns took part in Mule’s second set, which was themed “1971: The Year Music Changed The World.”

Frontman Warren Haynes swapped between three iconic guitars — Mike Bloomfield’s 1963 Fender Telecaster, Dickey Betts’ 1958 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop and Jerry Garcia’s Travis Bean TB500 #11 — during the celebratory performance. Haynes and bandmates bassist Kevin Scott and multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis, along with Terence Higgins, filling in for Matt Abts on drums, devoted the first set to originals. “Same As It Ever Was” and “Dreaming Out Loud” from Mule’s 2023 album, Peace… Like A River, saw action as well as fan-favorites “Game Face,” “Sco-Mule,” “Revolution Come, Revolution Go,” “About To Rage” and “Blind Man In The Dark.”

Gov’t Mule returned for a second set loaded with covers of a diverse array of songs originally released in 1971. Jackie Greene was on hand for all but one of the 20 songs played, which started with Mule debuts of Grand Funk Railroad’s “Footstompin’ Music” and James Gang’s “Walk Away.” Next came the band’s first take on Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey” since October 1, 2019 and premiere cover of “Where Ya At Mule” by Dr. John. From there, Mule revived Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog,” which they last played in full on May 1, 2013 and May 2, 2021, respectively.

Yola emerged to handle vocals on “Black Dog” and then sang the Mule debut of Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz.” The powerhouse vocalist ended her time on stage with the subsequent “Me And Bobby McGee” cover. Jackie Greene starred on the covers of “Cowboy Movie” (David Crosby), “Bertha” (Grateful Dead), “My Sweet Lord” (George Harrison), “Imagine” (John Lennon), “Thank You For Talking To Me, Africa” (Sly & The Family Stone), “When I Paint My Masterpiece” (Bob Dylan), “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (The Who), “Break On Through” (The Doors) and “Bitch” (Rolling Stones) that followed. While most hadn’t been performed by Mule before, the band last covered “Bertha” on May 4, 2018; “Won’t Get Fooled Again” on June 4, 2011; “Break On Through” on Halloween 2018; and “Bitch” on January 18, 2017. The Chronic Horns — Pam Fleming (trumpet & flugelhorn), Jenny Hill (tenor sax, baritone sax, flute) and Buford O’Sullivan (trombone) — contributed to approximately half the songs played in the second set.

Louis Cato was the next guest to appear. The leader of the Late Show With Stephen Colbert house band handled lead vocals on Mule’s first ever renditions of Al Green’s “I Can’t Get Next To You” and Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” and “What’s Going On?” Gov’t Mule then went guestless for their stunning version of the Elton John gem “Madman Across The Water” before Greene returned for an incidenary “Whipping Post” finale.

Check out fan-captured videos featuring highlights from the cover and guest-filled second set below:

Setlist & Photos (via @GovtMule Instagram)