The Allman Brothers Band - A Career Retrospective

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One Way Out

I guess this is the last official facily titled live album for them. Taken over two nights at the Beacon in ‘03(?), these guys sounded amazing. This is probably the best release from the band this side of At the Fillmore East and Eat a Peach. The chemistry between Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes is perfection, and Oteil sounds great. Everyone is firing on all cylinders. Rockin’ Horse and Desdemona are amazing. Trouble No More, Wasted Words and Good Morning Little School Girl are awesome. Instrumental Illness is then jamming at their best. Probably my favorite Dreams so far here, and Whipping Post is quite intense. I wish I could have seen them.

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Warner Theatre, Erie, PA 7/19/05

This lineup is now fully entrenched, and they sound great. Coming right out with Mountain Jam seems bold, but by breaking into two parts at the beginning and end of the first set, it provides a wonderful frame for everything in between, including a phenomenal Good Morning Little School Girl and one of the better Midnight Rider performances. The second set is similar fantastic, and nearly perfect save for a long in the tooth drum solo. Susan Tedeski sounded great on their cover of Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright, and the encore of One Way Out was pretty great. Really good show.

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Hearing Susan sing Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright is one of my favorite things in the world. TTB did it the first time I saw them.

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The Brothers - Madison Square Garden 3/10/2020

The initial take away from this one off celebration of 50 years of the Allman Brothers Band makes it clear that these guys should still be playing together, even without any Allmans. Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes still have that magic chemistry, the band sounds exceptional, and this is frankly a landmark show even for a band full of landmark live sets. Sure, Hot’Lanta, Jessica, Blue Sky, Desdemona, Ain’t Wasting Time No More, and an epic Whipping Post are highlights that are above and beyond - but everything is basically incredible here. Don’t let it end!

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Don’t know if you planned on it but I recommend listening to the Skydog set. It’s a comprehensive collection of Duane’s recordings. I think there’s one track on there where they weren’t 100% positive if it was him on it or not. But it includes everything he recorded and some stuff with the ABB in chronological order. I’m up to where he’s started session work. Can’t recommend highly enough.

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Trouble No More tomorrow. I feel like I am gonna have a fun time - I always let loose a bit more when it’s a tribute band, an all star tribute should make it all the better.

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Be interesting to hear some ABB tunes with pedal steel.

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The pedal steel was used relatively sparingly and more in the background. It came out mostly to counterpoint “Taz” Niederauer’s solos.

The show itself was spectacular. Mountain Jam frankly in their hands was as good if not better than ABB. Daniel Donato might be the best guitarist I have seen live, along with Niederauer and Marcus King. These three young guys are the present and future of southern guitar rock, and could play with legends like Betts and Allman without batting an eye.

They played all of Eat a Peach but out of order so you didn’t really know what was next. They also threw in Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’ and a Whipping Post encore, so it definitely had a Duane Allman era feel to the show. Nothing from any albums past Eat a Peach. But nearly every jam was exceptional. The singer would take long siestas off stage when the band was jamming, and was basically besides the point though he was good. The band though, damn. Also a bunch if huge organ solos all top notch.

Setlist from memory so not 100%:

Trouble No More, Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More, Les Brer in A Minor, Melissa, Mountain Jam, Stand Back, Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’, One Way Out

Encore: Whipping Post

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Les Brer is a favorite. I got it once. Which was one more time than I ever got Hot ‘Lanta.

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Listened to a show from ‘93 when Dickie was in jail and Jack Pearson filled in for him. Goddamn. One of the hottest shows I’ve ever listened to. Jack is definitely THE guitar player you’ve never heard of.