After being critical of Warren Haynes for many years with statements like "He can't replace Dwayne Allman" or "Dickie Bets blows him away" I gave in a few years back. All I had to do was stop arguing and realize, this guy is the real deal. He wasn't trying to be Dickie Betts or Dwayne Allman and when he played lead guitar for The Dead, he wasn't trying to be Jerry Garcia. On the contrary, this man respects and has learned from the genius of all of these men and many more. So when I opened my mind to Govt Mule, one of Warren's projects outside of the Allman Brothers Band, it was a real treat. Govt Mule is hard rocking music. They get their influence from Blues, Funk, Heavy Metal, Southern Rock, Hard Rock and Jazz. They took me back to the 1970s which is my favorite era of music. I jumped with both feet into Govt Mule; these guys are everything that I want a rock band to be. So when I heard that Warren was out touring with a different project, called the Warren Haynes Band (WHB), I knew we were in for a treat.
I got my first chance to see WHB in May at the Park West. This show was amazing, much different than Govt Mule. While not a rhythm and blues revue per se, they dove deep into R&B with their own music from the album Man in Motion. They also dug into other genres with covers such as Tupelo Honey (Van Morrison), What's Hip (Tower of Power) and Roller Derby Queen (Jim Croce). This show was one to remember.
Warren being, without a doubt, the hardest working man in show business (now that James Brown is gone) came back to Chicago 6 months later to give us another show. This time, WHB played the VIC Theatre. The Vic itself is a great venue. I have not been in years and have seen some great shows there in my early 20s (Mickey Hart's Planet Drum, Subdudes and Poi Dog Pondering to name a few). To put a cherry on this treat, my mom was in town to join me for this show. She is not a regular concert goer but an energetic 63 year young woman that was as happy as could be to share this experience with me.
The show opened with a five way call and response. This was their way of saying "take a look, this is what we have in store". It started off with Warren picking it up ripping a lead, and then handing it to Ron Holloway on Sax, to Nigel Hall on Keys, to Alica Shakur on vocals and finally off to Terrence Higgins on drums. While we didn't hear a solo from Ron Johnson on bass, he was a powerhouse through the show and many times led the band from his little spot out of the spot lite. They opened up with River's Gonna Rise and Alicia Shakur made it the straight gospel with her soulful voice. Another highlight of the 1st set was the cover of Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic. Pretzel Logic turned into an incredible jazzy jam with the Nigel and Terrence trading licks on Keys and Drums. Towards the end of this jam, Warren came back with the guitar and reminded us why this is the Warren Haynes Band. In the first set it became real obvious that these guys have true chemistry. In particular Ron Holloway and Warren really play well off of each other. First set was 6 songs and just between 70-75 minutes. It was a jam band paradise.
Second set opened up with a-capella Baby Love that had lots of spirit.....made me want to grab a tambourine. They went into a slow intense jam (I don't know the name) that went from slow, to hard rock, to reggae and then Ron took over on sax and for the next few minutes Ron and Warren did some great call and response jamming. While they were on the hard rock kick they moved into Jimi Hendrix's Spanish Castle Magic which was loud and strong, the way it was meant to be. Warren went into the Albert King classic Feel Like Breaking up Somebody's Home (for those that haven's seen heard Govt Mule cover this tune with Joe Bonamassa at the Riviera, go look it up...it is a real treat). Nigel than takes over on keys and vocals with Don't Change Horses In the Middle of the Stream. Warren Takes back over with Take a Bullet into a very familiar jam that works it's way into the Stevie Wonder tune I Wish (sung by Nigel) and then back to Take a Bullet. They closed the show with Sick of My Shadow. Ron Holloway really jammed out on this closer. For the encore WHB gave us the expected but always loved Soul Shine and the surprised us by going back into Baby Love.
Warren has turned out to be the most consistent pleasure in my music life over the last 3 years. After cheating myself for too long, I can't get enough of this man. Each incarnation has been fantastic. The Allman Bros, The Dead, GOVT Mule, WHB and his countless jams with musicians like Los Lobos, Tedeschi Trucks, Grace Potter and Eric Clapton are part of a resume that can't be ignored. His passion for his music has him working what appears to be 300+ days a year. I truthfully don't understand how he is not better known and more widely appreciated outside of the jam band and hardcore musician world but, I am thrilled to have finally discovered (a little late) this TRUE MAESTRO!
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