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Ybor City, FL 4/15/98 |
| No matter whether the music was delivered by Trucks or Mule, it definitely
transported the crowd at this concert. I arrived early knowing if I wanted
to get good camera shots I needed to be right up front, as there are no
special setups for photographers and the lighting is never too bright. Thus
I came upon 18 year old Derek Trucks sitting cross legged on stage idly
strumming his guitar and chatting with fans who have followed him since
he started making the rounds at 11, a prodigy with the guitar. Nephew of drummer Butch Trucks of "The Allman Brothers Band," he has formed his own band consisting of keyboard/vocalist Bill McKay, drummer Yonrico Scott, and bassist Todd Smallie. Derek plays mostly slide guitar and this young blond-locked Lochinvar delivers some wicked grooves that belie his innocent charm. The band released its first album on Landslide Records, "The Derek Trucks Band," in December of '97 but only played about 4 cuts off the album, most of their original tunes and one cover. Derek's gifted guitar play is ably supported by his fellow band members, especially Scott whose facial expressions while attacking the drums were a movie in miniature. |
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| The concert opened with what would be the first of many guitar solos, as Derek led off "5 Minutes," wasting no time in showing why he has already played with many guitar virtuoso's, making the guitar virtually sing to the crowd. The crowd was into it from the start too, as it looked like a giant Beavis and Butthead air guitar competition at times, but done with better music. A cover of "The Replacements" "Otto" followed, as Derek showed he could do more than just play slide. Derek does need to cultivate a little stage presence however, being so laid back it seems like he is taking a stroll in the park. |
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| An old blues tune, "Preacher Blues," came next, before giving
way to "555-Lake," one of the few vocal expressions and original
composition that allowed all the members to solo. Staying in a blues vein,
another original composition, "D Minor Blues," was next. This
was a slow blues tune with a lot of grace and style that made me want to
hear more. The Ray Charles tune, "Ain't That Love," gave Derek
another chance to showcase his superior slide technique. Jazz also made an appearance with "Footprints," and allowed Derek to take off while, the bass gave a solid backbeat on this Miles Davis cover. The band closed out their set with "Travel South" and another original piece, "Eggs 15," leaving me especially impressed with the quality of songwriting along with the masterful guitar work. This kid will give Johnny Lang a run for his money. |
| They should have posted a sign before "Gov't Mule" opened it's set saying "any resemblance between the songs played here, and the ones on our CD, are strictly coincidental." Gov't Mule, the band of a thousand bridges, and at times almost a bridge too far. Thirteen songs, four different guitars, over two hours, you do the math. Warren Hayes out of the shadow of the Allman Brothers casts his own giant shadow on the music front with blazing guitar work, partnered by Allen Woody on bass, more than willing to keep up with Warren's relentless bridges. |
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| Opening with "Join The Revelator" and "Thelonious Beck"
from their debut album with Capricorn Records, "Dos," I hardly
recognized the songs except when Warren slipped in a chorus between bridges.
You know when Warren's going to sing because he arches his back and goes
on tiptoe to reach the mike. Warren won't win any singing contests, but
for this brand of southern blues/rock it does just fine. Allen, meanwhile,
is rocking away with his twin neck Gibson, a big guitar played by a big
guy. The drummer is thin as a rail and I can understand why, after two hours
of nonstop drum work he probably drops ten pounds a night. If this tour
is too long he might melt away to nothing. After a driving cover of the James tune "Horse," Warren returned to the current album with "Thorazine Shuffle," which has a terrific opening bridge, and "Gameface," which is an apt description of Warren on stage. The Mule then did some covers of everyone from the Dead ("Bertha") to ZZ Top ("Nasty Dog"). This four song portion included two guitar changes, some reverb action and some solo work from Woody, who plays hard but looks to really be enjoying himself up there. |
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| The regular set closed with "She Said, She Said" and "Birth
of the Mule," the latter one of my favorites off the album, and even
more so live.The grand finale involved bringing Derek and another guitarist
(ChrisAnderson?) on stage to jam for a couple of tunes, "It Hurts Me
Too" and "Simple Man," which hurt so good and were simply
amazing tours de force. For someone who loves great guitar work this was an evening of delights that sped by way too fast for this writer. Even faster than Warren's fingers on the strings. So become part of the plenty "Mule" team and catch them in action, |
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