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 I just can't get this out of my head and heart. On November 8, 2000, several of us headed west over the yet verdant Virginia landscape for Charlottesville. The expectation of an amazing evening weighed heavy on the gas pedal as we cruised over I-64, passing the unenlightened as if we were angels urgently pursuing a dream of salvation and escapist ecstacy. Along the way, my pal Sean harangued us about what we should expect at this show. Warren Haynes and Matt Abts of Gov't Mule were playing the Starr Hill Music Hall, adjunct of Starr Hill Brewery. This was their last of a three-show tour that hit Boston and Philadelphia before C-ville. Gov't Mule's bass player, Allen Woody, died of a heart attack a few months before and this small tour served as an unspoken farewell. The quietly elegant stage, subdued lighting, and the intimacy of Starr Hill Music Hall all lent an aura of sanctity to the night's proceedings. Only about a hundred people were there to see Kevn Kinney's openning set. Mr. Kinney did a few songs from his new album, "The Flower and the Knife", which was produced by Warren Haynes and features Allen Woody, Edwin McCain, John Popper, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, Jimmy Herring, and Warren and Matt as well. Kevn was joined by Warren on slide guitar and Matt behind a full drum set towards the end of his set. At the end, they all disappeared to their tour bus. After the break, Matt and Warren took the stage. Warren was handed his acoustic guitar as Matt climbed behind his drums. No word was spoken about it, but everyone seemed to understand why they were there and what the appropriate mood would be. The started their first set with "Old Friend", which signified the meaningful spirituality that was to come. Expecting great holes in the music without a bass player to fill them, we were all blown away by the fullness of their sound. Warren played a switchblade guitar while forcing his gravelly, Southern-man voice out of the depths of his heart. Matt filled in a rhythm section that put meat on the bones of Warren's guitar work. Soon, Warren reached off stage and was handed his electric guitar for the deep blues songs "I Can't Hold Out" and "She's 19 Years Old". "I Can't Hold Out" grabbed the crowd by the throat and assaulted our general souls like a blunt object, but "She's 19 Years Old" plunged us all even deeper into the abysmal blue pushing the crowd into an ecstatic screaming low-down dirtiness. The men stomped a little harder and the women did their "hip shake thing" a little lower. Through the rest of the first set's songs, "Out of the Rain", "I Shall Return" and "Raven Black Night", Warren and Matt continued to play the truth in its most naked, beautiful expression of musical humanity. The listeners had nothing but to squirm under the pressure of Matt's purposeful beat and Warren's weeping guitar and move in a gracious, grateful sway. If the first set served to warm up the audience, the second set ignited an inferno on Main Street, Charlottesville. "In My Life" reintroduced the crowd, which had swelled to near capacity for the space, to the night's sacred heart. Then they surprised us all with U2's "One", from the album "Achtung, Baby". Warren provided the necessary vocal muscle to drive the song into its most poignant corner. The crowd just thundered. Another pleasant surprise came with The Grateful Dead's "To Lay Me Down" which brought a lump to the collective throat and evoked sympathetic nods. Here, the night's emotional truth is unmistakeable. There was a raincloud atmosphere and I swear I could smell the rain. "You guys kick fuckin' ass!" hurtled across the room from Sean's familiar voice. Continuing the soulfulness, they played "Bounty Hunter", a song they never previously performed. Turning back to sliding electricity, Warren and Matt played Tom Waitts' "Goin' Out West" (often covered by Widespread Panic). The song captured the power of a full Gov't Mule tune. The missing bass was ghosted in by Warren's adroit guitar wrangling, Matt's insistent bass drum, and perhaps Allen Woody's spirit as well. It was uncanny how full the sound was and the crowd wanted for nothing musically. "That's my fuckin' Mule!" rose above the noise at the end of the song off of Sean's tongue. Muddy Water's "Champagne and Reefer" followed, hitting us like a hammer blow with unapologetic, assertive, aggressive blues. We all just about jumped out of our skin. Returning once again to the acoustic guitar, Warren worked into Van Morrison's "And It Stoned Me" and continued straight into Morrison's "Into the Mystic". "Stoned Me" brought the crowd to voice and proved they were stoned to their souls. "Mystic" had the energy and conviction of a bare-chested, shut-eyed supplication to the heart of Apollo. We were all surprised to hear them follow up with David Gray's tune "My, Oh My" from his recent album "White Ladder". Closing the show with Haynes' own "Soulshine" allowed Warren to revisit the days when he and Allen Woody played with the Allman Brothers Band. For an encore, Matt and Warren took the stage with Kevn Kinney in tow, and played "Where Ya Goin'?" and "Straight to Hell", both tunes penned by Kinney, but "Straight to Hell" was recognized by several as a standard from Kinney's band, Drivin' and Cryin', and it was raucous, wholesome rock, the perfect song with which to end the night - "I'm goin' straight to hell, just like my mama said. I'm goin' straight to hell."
NOTES TO THE MASSES: OK, I apologize for writing about a musical event that happened months ago and one that only the 200 or so people who were present could fully appreciate, but I can't help it. This show so affected me that I have to share it with you all. There are bootlegs out there, but I must acknowledge a great disappointment. The audience that night split into two factions: those of us who crowded the floor in front of the stage to listen to amazing music; and a steaming herd of rude, loud and obnoxious (true to form) yuppies, frat boys, and trust fund kids. Warren calls them "trustafarians". Though we could not hear them over the music during the performance, the bootleg mics picked them up accurately enough that you could actually listen to conversations over some of the softer songs. Makes me sick. However, these bootlegs are worth having if you can track them down. I do possess my own copies, and if you're interested, contact me and I'll try to work something out. To find out more about Gov't Mule and what they might be up to these days, check out www.mulezone.com. There are links from there to the band's own website and Kevn Kinney's. Kevn Kinney's CD "The Flower and the Knife", copyright 2000, is manufactured and marketed by Capricorn Records REVIEW OF GOV'T MULE'SALBUM "THE DEEP END, VOL. 1" 2/01 |
content copyright 2000 the author
art copyright 2000 skewed perspective