Gov’t Mule Welcomes A Slew Of Guests At The Beacon Theatre

Gov’t Mule moved up the East Coast to continue their New Year’s run on Saturday night with the first of two gigs at their home away from home: New York City’s Beacon Theatre. The Southern jam titans have held a New Year’s run at the Upper West Side venue every year (sans one) dating all the way to 2002. As per tradition, Warren Haynes & Co. welcomed a number of guests to sit-in with them throughout their two-set show last night at the nearly 3,000 seat venue.

The night got underway with Mule pairing a relatively new song to their catalog – “Traveling Tune,” with one of their oldest – “Rocking Horse.” The four-piece act than reeled off a string of their best-known material delivering takes on “Banks Of The Deep End,” “Blind Man In The Dark” and “Bad Little Doggie.” Mule welcomed their first guest of the night one song later as longtime Saturday Night Live house band drummer Shawn Pelton emerged for a take on “Broke Down On The Brazos,” from their 2009 release By A Thread, and would remain on stage for the rest of the first frame.

Next up guitarist Oz Noy got in on the action for a take on Billy Cobham’s “Stratus,” from the jazz fusion drummer’s 1973 release Spectrum. A cover of Traffic’s “Feelin’ Alright” saw Mule enlist the help of the The Better Half Singers aka Mini Carlsson and Machan Taylor, who happened to be married to two members of the band bassist Jorgen Carlsson and keyboardist Danny Louis. The first set came to a close with one more guest as bassist Lincoln Schleifer stepped in for Carlsson on a version of The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

Gov’t Mule kicked off their fourth set of their 2017 closing run with a trio of tunes from their most recent studio album offering up “Stone Cold Rage,” “Drawn That Way” and “Easy Times” from Revolution Come…Revolution Go. Later in the set Mule nodded back to their Halloween tribute show to the English classic rock act Free as they delivered takes on “Heartbreaker” and “Walk In My Shadow” that saw them being joined by guitarist Jimmy Vivino, drummer Carmine Appice and bassist Paul Ill.

A wild segment followed as the stage was turned over to the bevy of drummers in the building as Appice, Pelton and Matt Abts all took turns showing off their percussion skills. A cover of the Allman Brothers Band classic “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed” eventually emerged out of drums portion of the night, with Pelton remaining on stage and Jimmy Vivino re-emerging. The band got back down to the basics as they brought the set to a close with “Railroad Boy” and a reprise of the song that started the night “Traveling Tune.” Gov’t Mule ended the night with one more cover as they were once again joined by The Better Half Singers and Shawn Pelton for a take on Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.”

Setlist

Set I: Traveling Tune > Rocking Horse, Banks Of The Deep End, Blind Man In The Dark, Bad Little Doggie, Burning Point, Broke Down On The Brazos*, Stratus**, Feeling Alright***, With A Little Help From My Friends****

Set II: Stone Cold Rage, Drawn That Way, Easy Times^, Fool’s Moon, Heartbreaker^^, Walk In My Shadow^^^ > Carmine Appice Drums > Shawn Pelton Drums > Matt Abts Drums > In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed^^^^ Railroad Boy > Traveling Tune

Encore: Wish You Were Here^^^^^

* with Shawn Pelton, ** with Shawn Pelton, Oz Noy & Jeff Babcock, *** with Shawn Pelton & the Better Half Singers, **** with Shawn Pelton, The Better Half Singers & Lincoln Schleifer without Jorgen Carlsson, ^ with The Better Half Singers, ^^ with Jimmy Vivino & Carmine Appice; without Matt Abts, ^^^ with Jimmy Vivino, Carmine Appice & Paul Ill; without Jorgen Carlsson & Matt Abts, ^^^^ with Shawn Pelton & Jimmy Vivino, ^^^^^ with Shawn Pelton & The Better Half Singers; Little Martha tease