Review & Photos | Tedeschi Trucks Band | NYC

Words and Images by: Adam McCullough

Tedeschi Trucks Band with special guests Jimmy Herring and Duane Trucks + Hard Working Americans :: 9.20.14 :: Beacon Theatre :: New York, NY

Read Adam’s thoughts on the show after the gallery.

Months ago, a four-night run by the Tedeschi Trucks Band was announced at the famous Beacon Theatre in New York City, with each night set to feature a different opener and special guests over two nights on two consecutive weekends. The first night of the stand featured opener Valerie June and special guests Jerry Douglas, Taj Mahal and Jaimoe from the Allman Brothers Band. Saturday night featured an opening set by Hard Working Americans, a new supergroup made up of Todd Snider, Dave Schools, Neal Casal, Chad Staehly, Duane Trucks and Jesse Ayock, whose debut self-titled album is a throwback to the blues rock albums of the ’60s and ’70s. HWA’s short opening set including many of the songs on that album and a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “New Speedway Boogie.”

The crowd started to fill in during the Hard Working Americans’ performance and by the time the Tedeschi Trucks Band took the stage, the Beacon Theatre was packed, with many standing in anticipation for the main act. As the lights dimmed, the band took the stage, all of them smiling and talking to each other as if they were heading out for a night on the town. You can tell they like each other and that was evident throughout the night and is probably what makes this band so great when they start playing music.

The opening few minutes of the show started with a jazzy introduction featuring Kofi Burbridge on the flute, but started to build and the rest of the band slowly joined the jam which led into “All That I Need,” a relatively slow song from the 2013 album Made Up Mind, but by the end of the song, Derek was ripping up his guitar like you’ve come to expect and Susan’s beautifully soulful voice was echoing throughout the Beacon Theatre and the rest of the band fed off that energy which would last the rest of the night. The next few songs would combine the blues, soul and rock that the Tedeschi Trucks Band has been doing better than anyone since they came together officially in 2011. They continued with a couple songs from Made Up My Mind, including the title track and “It’s So Heavy” as well as a Derek Trucks Band song which featured DTB member Mike Mattison on vocals.

After a great cover of Freddie King’s blues staple “Living In The Palace,” the band left the stage for a mini acoustic set. They started with “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning,” a gospel number that had both the band and the crowd clapping along as if it was Sunday morning service and continued with “Shake Your Money Maker.” For the final song of the mini acoustic set, Susan made a dedication to Brian Farmer, the guitar tech of Warren Haynes, who recently passed away. Tedeschi also thanked her crew, who she said was as important to the band’s success as anyone, then proceeded with a cover of Ray LaMontagne’s “Shelter.”

Following the acoustic set, the full band retook the stage and launched into one of their bigger hits from their debut album Revelator -“Midnight in Harlem.” “Midnight in Harlem” is the best example of the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s sound, the perfect combination of Derek Trucks’ unique slide guitar work and Susan Tedeschi’s sweet, soulful voice. With the band back in full swing, they brought out their special guest for the night, jamband guitar legend Jimmy Herring, who some say is just the older version of Derek Trucks. They ran through “Love Has Something Else to Say,” “Same Old Blues” and “Keep on Growing,” which of course featured some incredible back and fourth guitar work from Derek and Jimmy, with each equally trying to outdo the other while also completely complimenting the other. As with the rest of the band, there were plenty of smiles between Derek and Jimmy, two guys who obviously have a lot of respect for each other.

After Herring left the stage, the band finished the night with their other big hit from Revelator, the wonderful song “Bound for Glory,” which kept the crowd on their feet throughout the song and through a standing ovation as the group left the stage for an encore break. The encore started with another song from the album Made Up Mind, “Idle Wind,” which featured a tremendous drum battle between the band’s two drummers, JJ Johnson and Tyler Greenwell. For the final number, the band brought Jimmy Herring back and Derek’s younger brother, Duane Trucks. from the Hard Working Americans for a cover of the Beatles’ classic “Eleanor Rigby,” which featured a much more uptempo interpretation of the song that I’ve yet to hear, but was a really interesting take on the song. As the band finished their set, the smiles between the band members had yet to subside, which is one of the main reasons I think this group sounds as good as when they started three years ago, because they seem to not only like each other personally, but musically the mutual respect is there for each of the 11 members on stage.

JamBase | September Madness
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