Gov’t Mule & The Magpie Salute Collaborate On Black Crowes & Allman Brothers Classics In Nebraska

Each night of Gov’t Mule‘s tour with The Magpie Salute outside of Dark Side Of The Mule performances have found the bands teaming up for a collaborative encore incorporating covers. The trend continued on Wednesday in Papillion, Nebraska with a bit of a twist. Yesterday, the “Magpie Mule” encore at SumTur Amphitheater featured a song from Warren Haynes‘ former band along with one from Rich Robinson, Sven Pipien and Marc Ford’s old group.

The Magpie Salute once again opened with “High Water” from the recently released High Water I, as they have each night of the run. While the set was heavy on tunes from the new record, the six-piece also dug in on the Black Crowes’ classic “Wiser Time” and “Had To Cry Today” by Blind Faith.

Gov’t Mule then kicked off a marathon set with the Life Before Insanity gem “Bad Little Doggie.” Haynes, multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis, bassist Jorgen Carlsson and drummer Matt Abts went on treat fans to a career-spanning performance that included such favorites as “Steppin’ Lightly” and “Broke Down On The Brazos” from 2009’s By A Thread, “Devil Likes It Slow” and Deja Voodoo’s “Slackjaw Jezebel.”

The Magpie Salute keyboardist Matt Slocum joined Mule for a cover of Billy Cobham’s “Stratus” towards the middle of the set. Later, the quartet would insert Jimi Hendrix’s “If 6 Was 9” within their own “Larger Than Life.” Gov’t Mule ended the main set with a taste of their last two studio albums: “Funny Little Tragedy” off 2013’s Shout! and Revolution Come … Revolution Go chestnut “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground.”

Warren Haynes emerged for the encore without the rest of Gov’t Mule. Instead, all of The Magpie Salute loaded the stage for The Black Crowes’ “Descending.” The Magpie Salute features Crowes alums Rich Robinson, Marc Ford and Sven Pipien, though Pipien hadn’t yet joined the band when they recorded “Descending” for 1994’s Amorica. Haynes then strapped on an acoustic as he led Robinson, Ford, Slocum, Abts, Louis and Carlsson through the Allman Brothers Band’s “Melissa.” While Warren performed “Melissa” many times during his tenure in the ABB, Mule only started playing the Gregg Allman-penned ballad last August.

Watch a brief clip of “Melissa” shared by catsmelvin:

Setlists

Gov’t Mule (via Gov’t Mule/Facebook)

Set: Bad Little Doggie, Steppin’ Lightly, Inside Outside Woman Blues, Broke Down On The Brazos > Tributary Jam, Child Of The Earth, Devil Likes It Slow (with Hottentot tease), Easy Times, Stratus (with Matt Slocum), Slackjaw Jezebel, Larger Than Life > If 6 Was 9 > Larger Than Life, Funny Little Tragedy (with Message In A Bottle lyrics) > Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground

Encore: Descending (with Rich Robinson, Marc Ford, Sven Pipien, Matt Slocum, Joe Magistro & John Hogg; without Matt Abts, Danny Louis & Jorgen Carlsson), Melissa (with Rich Robinson, Marc Ford & Matt Slocum)

The Magpie Salute

Set: High Water, Mary The Gypsy, For The Wind, Open Up, Had To Cry Today, Wiser Time, Can You See, Send Me An Omen