Crescent City Collaborations: John Scofield, Chuck Leavell & More Guests Join Gov’t Mule At Daze Between New Orleans

Gov’t Mule went heavy on special guests to close out the 2024 Daze Between New Orleans festival on Wednesday. The quartet shared the stage with Dirty Dozen Brass Band, keyboardist Chuck Leavell, guitarist Daniel Donato, vocalist Grace Potter, guitarist Duane Betts, keyboardist Ivan Neville, multi-instrumentalist Karl Denson and guitarist John Scofield at various points of their two sets and encore at NOLA’s Faubourg Brewery.

The third annual Daze Between New Orleans was presented by Live For Live Music, GMP Live, Purple Hat Productions, Dayglo Presents and Rose Tours at Faubourg Brewery in between weekends of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at the Fair Grounds. Lettuce headlined opening day on Tuesday with a set featuring multiple songs performed with special guest John Scofield. The Krasno/Moore Project, Dogs In A Pile, Cool Cool Cool and The Rumble featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. rounded out Tuesday’s lineup.

The guest-filled Gov’t Mule headlining sets came last night after performances from The Iceman Special, Karina Rykman, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Galactic featuring Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. The quartet opened with the eponymous “Mule” and then ran through staples “Banks Of The Deep End” and “Revolution Come, Revolution Go.”

“Well it just wouldn’t be New Orleans and it just wouldn’t be Jazz Fest without the Dirty Dozen Brass Band,” Gov’t Mule guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes then told the crowd as an introduction to the Crescent City ensemble. Dirty Dozen Brass Band added horns to covers of the traditional “John The Revelator” and Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon.” Haynes and bandmates drummer Matt Abts, bassist Kevin Scott and multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis went on to complete the first set with “Same As It Ever Was” off 2023’s Peace Like A River and oldie “Time To Confess.”

The second set saw Gov’t Mule welcome a parade of guests. Daniel Donato and Chuck Leavell contributed ripping guitar and glorious piano respectively to beloved favorite “Soulshine” in the opening slot. Grace Potter then tagged in for Donato on The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses.” Daniel Donato returned as he shared vocal duties with Haynes and Potter on the ensuing version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman.”

While most of the special guests were announced coming into the night Grace Potter’s appearance was a surprise as was one by Duane Betts. The son of Dickey Betts contributed to a take on “Blue Sky” that also featured his father’s former bandmate, Chuck Leavell. The stage was then reset as Ivan Neville emerged to add to Peace Like A River cut “Dreaming Out Loud” in a reprise of his appearance on the studio version. Then, Denson dug in on sax and Scofield weaved his guitar into “Devil Likes It Slow.”

Gov’t Mule wrapped their second set last night by covering Little Feat’s “Spanish Moon” with guests Ivan Neville, John Scofield and Karl Denson. The quartet and John Scofield delivered a “Sco-Mule” encore to end Daze Between New Orleans 2024.

Official video of Daze Between New Orleans 2024 can be viewed free on-demand with a nugs.net subscription. Watch more fan-shot video from the Mule set below:

Photos by Adam McCullough

Setlist (via Gov’t Mule Facebook)

Set One: Mule, Banks Of The Deep End, Revolution Come, Revolution Go, John The Revelator@, Chameleon@, Same As It Ever Was, Time To Confess

Set Two: Soulshine#$, Wild Horses#%, Gold Dust Woman#$%, Blue Sky#^, Dreaming Out Loud&, Devil Likes It Slow!*, Spanish Moon&!*

Sco-Mule!

• @ – with Dirty Dozen Brass Band
• # – with Chuck Leavell
• $ – with Daniel Donato
• % – with Grace Potter
• ^ – with Duane Betts
• & – with Ivan Neville
• * – with Karl Denson
• ! – with John Scofield