Gov’t Mule Welcomes Marcus King, Don Was & Smoky Greenwell In New Orleans

It’s not often that you see a band play a venue with the same name in two different cities on back-to-back nights, but that’s just what Gov’t Mule did as they traveled from the Seanger Theatre in Mobile, Alabama to the one in New Orleans, Louisiana. On Friday night, Warren Haynes & Co. continued their long-standing tradition of playing the Crescent City during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival with a two-set show that saw them welcome a trio of guests.

The Southern-jam act got their night in The Big Easy underway with the pairing of “World Boss” from 2013’s Shout! with “Mr. High & Mighty.” After a stab at “Lay Your Burden Down” the quartet delivered a take on “Unring The Bell” that saw them work in a tease of Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up.” From there, Haynes reached back to his days with the Allman Brothers Band with “Kind Of Bird.” The tune from his former band’s 1991 Shades of Two Worlds also saw Mule drop in a tease of The Turtles’ 1967 number one hit “Happy Together.” Mule looked to a pair of songs from Revolution Come…Revolution Go next with “Thorns Of Life” and “Pressure Under Fire” coming ahead of the set-closing “Time To Confess.”

Gov’t Mule opened up their second set of the night with a pair of covers from musicians we lost last year. First up was their version of Soundgarden’s “Fell On Black Days.” The band welcomed out their first guest of the night next as New Orlean’s own harmonica ace Smoky Greenwell lent a hand on Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels.” Greenwell remained on stage as Marcus King emerged next as the augmented act dug in on Albert King’s “Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home.” Mule had the stage to themselves for “Million Miles From Yesterday” and “Traveling Tune.”

The night’s final guest followed as Don Was replaced Jorgen Carlsson on bass. Was, who is best-known as a record producer and member of the 1980s funk band Was (Not Was), assisted on the Van Morrison deep cut “He Ain’t Give You None” from the Irish singer’s 1967 release Blowin’ Your Mind! and the Grateful Dead’s “Bertha.” “Brighter Days” followed with King re-emerging to help bring things to end with the second Allman Brothers Band tune of the night as they tackled “Whipping Post.” Mule closed out their night with a one-song encore as Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground” concluded their time in New Orleans.

Gov’t Mule will appear at the Beale Street Music Festival today, check out the full setlist below:

Setlist (via Mule.net)

Set I: World Boss > Mr. High & Mighty, Lay Your Burden Down, Unring The Bell*, Kind Of Bird**, Thorns Of Life, Pressure Under Fire, Time To Confess

Set II: Fell On Black Days, You Don’t Know How It Feels***, Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home^, Million Miles From Yesterday, Traveling Tune, He Ain’t Give You None^^ > Bertha^^, Brighter Days > Whipping Post^^^

Encore: Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground

Notes:

• * with Get Up, Stand Up tease
• ** with Happy Together tease
• *** with Smoky Greenwell
• ^ with Smoky Greenwell & Marcus King
• ^^ with Don Was; without Jorgen Carlsson
• ^^^ with Marcus King