Warren Haynes Dusts Off Gorgeous The Band Cover With Grand Rapids Symphony

Warren Haynes brought his The Dreams and Songs Symphonic Experience tour to Grand Rapids, Michigan on Monday for a concert with the Warren Haynes Band and Grand Rapids Symphony at Frederik Meijer Gardens Amphitheater. Haynes broke out a cover of The Band classic “It Makes No Difference” during the evening’s second of three sets.

Each show of the run has featured the WHB performing one set sans orchestra and the other two with the symphony. On Monday, the Warren Haynes Band kicked off the concert with a three-song set. Vocalists Saundra Williams and Mayteana Morales joined the group on the “Man In Motion” opener and returned for select songs over the remainder of the night.

The Warren Haynes Band for this tour finds the Gov’t Mule frontman accompanied by bandmate bassist Kevin Scott as well as keyboardist Matt Slocum, saxophonist Greg Osby and drummer Terence Higgins. Haynes has been mixing material from his solo, Gov’t Mule, Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers Band catalogs at each stop. The guitarist worked “It Makes No Difference” into the setlist in Grand Rapids.

Robbie Robertson wrote “It Makes No Difference” for inclusion on the 1975 The Band album Northern Lights – Southern Cross. The legendary group famously played the song sung by bassist Rick Danko at their The Last Waltz farewell concert at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving Day 1976.

Warren Haynes performed “It Makes No Difference” regularly in 2017, 2019 and 2022 as part of the all-star lineup on The Last Waltz Tour. However, Haynes hadn’t covered the song at one of his own shows since a 2018 Gov’t Mule concert until Monday night. “It Makes No Difference” was only played twice by Mule, once by the original WHB and six times by The Allmans with Warren at the helm according to Setlist.FM statistics.

Haynes, the WHB, Grand Rapids Symphony, Williams and Morales fit the breathtaking “It Makes No Difference” cover into the penultimate slot of the second set in Grand Rapids. Warren belted out the lead vocals while strumming a Les Paul guitar. The orchestra provided sweet accents. The guitarist and Slocum each took solos in place of iconic run laid down by Garth Hudson with The Band.

Watch fan-shot video of “It Makes No Difference” from Haynes’ visit to Grand Rapids below:

The Dreams and Songs Symphonic Experience tour moves on to Fort Wayne, Indiana tonight. Warren Haynes recently announced a fall tour featuring John Medeski sliding back into the keyboard role.

Setlist (via Warren Haynes Facebook)

Set One (WHB Only): Man In Motion#, Rivers Gonna Rise, Invisible

Set Two (w/ Grand Rapids Symphony): Dreams And Songs#, Dreams, Banks Of The Deep End#, Spots Of Time, It Makes No Difference#, Terrapin Station > Slipknot! > Terrapin Station#

Set Three (w/ Grand Rapids Symphony): Raven Black Night > Silent Scream (Excerpt) > Raven Black Night, Thorazine Shuffle, Fire In The Kitchen, Black Peter#, Instrumental Illness, Whipping Post

Encore: Dreams And Songs (Reprise)#

# with Saundra Williams & Mayteana Morales on background vocals