Last summer, the Devon Allman Project toured with Duane Betts as a “special guest.” Looking back, those shows were a trial balloon for this year’s full-fledged album and tour. This reviewer was fortunate enough to catch them at the Great South Bay Festival in July and was really blown away with what was played. Before Betts came out, Allman’s band did their cover of the Spinners’ “I’ll Be Around,” complete with synchronized foot sliding. That element of the band seems to have been scrapped for a more heavy sound.
The new Allman Bets Band hit the stage on Thursday 4/4 at The Paramount in Huntington, NY to thunderous applause from a rowdy Long Island crowd ready to hear some Allman Brothers Band music. Nobody heard anyone say that mind you, but the audience felt like a miniature version of a Beacon show from back in the day. But like their official debut at the Brooklyn Bowl a week earlier, they opened with two originals. Like the aforementioned show, the band dipped into the Allmans’ catalog with Blue Sky. Betts, who looks strikingly similar to a 1971version of his dad, brought the same countrified picking that the band lost when Dickey left in 2000. He really is growing as a guitar player and I can’t imagine the privilege/burden of playing his father’s songs. The same can be said for Allman, who next took father Gregg’s lead on “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More.” At least Allman doesn’t look exactly like his dad and doesn’t play the same instrument. It might be a little easier to forge his own musical way.
The band’s original songs, which will reportedly be featured on their new album, aren’t quite raging enough to be compared to the ABB. But they are pretty nice. You can see “Down To The River” and “Melodies Are Memories” when Devon and Duane premiered them right before their Brooklyn Bowl show. “Left My Heart In Memphis,” a song Devon recorded with the Royal Southern Brotherhood was also well received. Duane added in a nice version of “Taking Time,” which appeared on his EP Sketches Of American Music. IF you haven’t heard the album, it’s well worth checking out and features both Marc Ford and Steve Cropper.
The show seemed to really kick into another gear when he led the band through “Mahalo,” an instrumental he did with his Honeytribe band. Betts took a break for the song and it really gave Devon a chance to fire up the crowd. I couldn’t help but think of Jeff Healey’s cover of “When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky” during it. Seriously, listen to the jam in it. Allman also led the band through an acoustic cover of Tom Petty’s “You Got Lucky” and Gregg’s “Multicolored Lady.”
Not to be outdone, Betts led the band through a cover of “Seven Turns” and an excellent “Dreams.” Before “Dreams,” bassist Berry Oakley Jr. pointed out that it was actually his father’s birthday (Muddy Waters’ as well). The ensuing tune would have made both men proud. I would be remiss to not mention slide guitarist Johnny Stachela’s contributions on slide guitar. He really sounded great all night and got a chance to really shine here. The band sent the crowd home happy with a cover of “Shakedown Street” that was closer to the song’s disco roots than the funkified monster it became on stage. Nonetheless, it really worked. Andy Aledort, who worked on the forthcoming Stevie Ray Vaughan biography Texas Flood, joined in on guitar.
During the show, Allman announced that the Paramount invited them back for two nights. They definitely won over the audience, so I’m not surprised. It will be interesting to see where these guys go next.
