“It’s going to be a long night,” Warren Haynes claimed at different points throughout the night during Gov’t Mule’s Saturday night sold-out show at the Capitol Theatre. With a video camera crane parked a few yards to his right, the incredibly accomplished singer-songwriter-guitar-shredder wowed the capacity crowd with his charisma and chops alike.
For the second of two at the Cap, Mule stuck mostly to original material and didn’t invite any guests onto the stage. Since they won’t be releasing the shows via MuleTracks.com, it’s clear that these shows will be released elsewhere for something a bit bigger than your typical jam-band soundboard recording. Which is great news for us in attendance, because the opportunity to relieve the heartbreaking solo in “Beautifully Broken” will be thoroughly appreciated.
While Haynes and company played mostly originals on Saturday night, it wasn’t without some really great teases and segues that touched on other great tunes from their repetoire. “Funny Little Tragedy” had portions of The Police’s “Message in a Bottle” in it. The cover of Mahavishnu Orchestra’s “Eternity’s Breath” went into a “St. Stephen” jam that honored the venue’s long-running love affair with the Grateful Dead.
A full-blown cover of Pearl Jam’s “Come Back” was debuted by the band, and I’m pretty sure no one in attendance thought that they were going to get a debut of a PJ cover that night. Just goes to show that Warren still has some cards up his sleeve, even when you think you’ve seen it all! The extra-long second set made good on Haynes’ promise that it was going to be a long night, and the band concluded the evening having spent more than three hours on the stage in glorious southern-rocking fashion.
Setlist [via]
Set 1: Traveling Tune Railroad Boy Mule Beautifully Broken Stone Cold Rage Drawn That Way Forsaken Savior (with ‘Sad and Deep as You’ by Dave Mason tease) Whisper in Your Soul Little Toy Brain Funny Little Tragedy (with ‘Message in a Bottle’ by The Police lyrics)
Set 2: Life Before Insanity Thorns of Life Trane Eternity’s Breath (Mahavishnu Orchestra cover) (> ‘St. Stephen’ jam) Pressure Under Fire Revolution Come, Revolution Go Unring the Bell Endless Parade Mr. High & Mighty Come Back (Pearl Jam cover) (live debut by GM) Inside Outside Woman Blues #3 World Boss Bring On the Music (> ‘Traveling Tune’ reprise)
Encore: I’ll Be the One (Warren Haynes song) (with ‘Blue Sky’ jam)