Gov’t Mule Starts A Revolution To Ring In 2018 At The Beacon Theatre

Prior to Sunday night’s New Year’s Eve show at the Beacon Theatre, Gov’t Mule had announced that the theme would be The Rocking Mule Revue, along with revealing an impressive list of guests that would be joining them throughout the night. While past New Year’s Eve themed shows have been a bit more obvious in terms of the material that would be played, what Warren Haynes & Co. had in store for attendees last night was a bit more ambiguous and would only become more apparent as the concert rolled on.

Mule’s lengthy two-set show got underway with “Thorns Of Life,” from their most recent studio effort Revolution Come…Revolution Go. The foursome then proceeded to work their way through material from four of their albums, before serving up the first cover of the night with the latter-day Allman Brothers Band track “Kind Of Bird.” The tune from the Allmans’ 1991 release Shades of Two Worlds, saw the Southern jam act tease a pair of ABB classics within it – “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed” and “Les Brers In A Minor.” The first frame of the night came to a close with Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground.”

The night’s main attraction came next as Gov’t Mule delivered a cover-heavy set that as it unfolded included a diverse selection of tunes that were written to inspire, fight the powers that be and spark a revolution. The band welcomed their first guests of the night out of the gate at the start as guitarist Jackie Greene and percussionist Shawn Pelton emerged and would essentially remain on stage with their hosts for the rest of the night. The guest-filled portion of the evening kicked off with their debut take on Steely Dan’s “Daddy Don’t Live in That New York City No More,” as they paid their respects to the late Walter Becker, whose band had also made the Beacon their home away from home over the last decade. Thunderclap Newman’s “Something In The Air” started the string of ‘revolution’ songs. As the set moved on Haynes, Greene and company would work their way through selections from Dr. John (“Revolution”), T. Rex (“Children Of The Revolution”), Bob Marley & The Wailers (“Revolution”), Gil Scott-Heron (“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”) and The Clash (“Revolution Rock”).

The ad-hoc ensemble also took swipes at the current presidential administration with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortune Son” and Jame Brown’s “Funky President (People It’s Bad),” which features the lyrics “Just changed the brand new funky president. Stock market going up, jobs going down. There ain’t no funky job to be found. Tax keeps going up. I changed from a glass, now I drink from a paper cup. Gettin’ bad.” Mule also delivered a selection of social protest anthems meant to inspire with Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.”

Gov’t Mule brought their inspirational night of music to a close with a seven-song, jam-filled encore that got underway with another tribute to a musician that we lost in 2017 as the band along with Jackie Greene and Shawn Pelton served up a take on one of Gregg Allman’s signature tunes, “Melissa.” The ensemble segued into “Mountain Jam,” before returning back to “Melissa.” Mule than weaved in and out of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World” and an instrumental version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun,” before returning back to the Allmans’ improvisational launching pad “Mountain Jam” to close out the evening’s festivities.

Check out the fully annotated setlist and fan-shot video captured by YouTube used bartr61295 below:

Videos

[ Auld Lang Syne > The Revolution Will Not Be Televised > Reblow Your Revolution]

[Fortunate Son]

[For What It’s Worth]

[Changes]

[Ball Of Confusion]

[Rockin’ In The Free World > Machine Gun > Rockin’ In The Free World]

Setlist (via Jambands.com)

Set I: Thorns Of Life, Larger Than Life, The Man I Want To Be, Painted Silver Light, Lay Your Burden Down, About To Rage (with Les Brers In A Minor tease), Kind Of Bird (with In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed, Les Brers In A Minor & Auld Lang Syne teases), Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground

Set II: Daddy Don’t Live in That New York City No More*, Something In The Air*, Revolution^, Funky President (People It’s Bad)^^, Children of the Revolution^^^, Revolution Come, Revolution Go%, Revolution%%, A Change Is Gonna Come%%%, The Times They Are A-Changin’$ > Auld Lang Syne > The Times They Are A-Changin’ Reprise$$ > Auld Lang Syne$$ > The Revolution Will Not Be Televised$$$, Reblow Your Revolution$$ > with Jackie Greene, Shawn Pelton (drums) & The Chronic Horns, Rebel With A Cause (Segue)%%, Revolution Rock%%, He Ain’t Give You None%%% > For What It’s Worth$$$$, Revolution Blues&, Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today)%%, Fortunate Son^^^, Changes^^^

Enc: Melissa& > Mountain Jam& > Melissa& > Rockin’ in the Free World& > Machine Gun (Instrumental)&& > Rockin’ in the Free World&& > Mountain Jam&&

Notes: *Debut, with Jackie Greene & Shawn Pelton, ^Debut, with Jackie Greene, Shawn Pelton (drums) & The Chronic Horns (Pam Fleming, Jenny Hill &, Sara Jacovino), ^^with Shawn Pelton & The Chronic Horns, ^^^Debut, with Jackie Greene, Shawn Pelton & The Better Half Singers (Machan Taylor, Mini Carlsson &, Elaine Caswell), %with Jackie Greene, Shawn Pelton & The Chronic Horns, %%Debut, with Jackie Greene, Shawn Pelton, The Better Half Singers & The Chronic Horns, %%%with Jackie Greene, Shawn Pelton, The Better Half Singers & The Chronic Horns, $Jackie Greene & Shawn Pelton (Drums) without Gov’t Mule (Concert Debut), $$with Jackie Greene, Shawn Pelton & The Chronic Horns $$$Debut with Jackie Greene, Shawn Pelton (drums), Matt Abts (lead vocal), Danny Louis (percussion) & The Chronic Horns, $$$$with Jackie Greene, Shawn Pelton, & The Better Half Singers, &with Jackie Greene & Shawn Pelton, &&with Jackie Greene, Shawn Pelton & Jimmy Vivino