Allman Brothers Band Orpheum Shows in Review: Pt. 1

HT’s newest contributor, Stuart Raper, spent the past week in Boston attending the Allman Brothers Band’s four-night stand at the Orpheum Theatre. Stuart will share his take on each show for Hidden Track. Today, we present his thoughts on the first Orpheum performance, from November 29.

The Allman Brothers are no strangers to Boston. From the old days when the original lineup would set up in Boston Common and play for free, to the live album they recorded at the Orpheum in the ‘90s, the town has always welcomed their performances. To express gratitude to their generations of Boston fans, the group decided to devote two very special nights of their four-night residency at the Orpheum Theatre to perform their seminal albums At Fillmore East and Eat A Peach in their entirety. With lots of anticipation and electricity in the air, everyone could tell these shows would be special.

[Photo by Rob Chapman from March]

On night one of the Orpheum run, before going in to the At Fillmore East set, the Brothers came out strong with a great first set. They opened with Don’t Want You No More into It’s Not My Cross To Bear, real bluesy, with a lot of feeling. They then tore into I Walk On Guilded Splinters next which kicked up the energy another notch. Derek started off digging in deep to the slide rhythm part before taking a nasty solo in which he alternated between slide and using his bare fingers. Gregg came back with the second verse, faltered for a second, then nailed the next line. Then,they bring it down for a drum break followed by Warren coming back with a greasy slide solo. Derek fired back and it became a full-on guitar duel. They wrap up their guitar onslaught and hit the chorus one last time to close out the song. One of the best versions of Guilded Splinters I’ve heard them play in a while, it was obvious at that point that this was a special night.

Rockin’ Horse started off easy and kept building with Warren digging in more and more as Derek backed him up on rhythm. Warren did some nice soloing before he handed it over to Derek and bassist Oteil Burbridge for the beautiful harmonic jam that has evolved in the middle of Rockin’ Horse. This middle section seems to have evolved over the past year or so and gives the song a wonderfully fresh dynamic. Oteil drove it with a major scale bass pattern that sounded to me like Jaco Pastorius covering Beethoven, while Derek soloed. Warren backed them up on rhythm before going right back into the chorus.

Every Hungry Woman brought on another nasty guitar duel. Derek and Warren pushed each other into a full-on cutting session. As Trucks played some jazz-sounding riffs on the low-end strings, Haynes took it back to the high notes prompting Derek to work his way up the fretboard as he eventually played notes not even on the guitar neck – a great jam. The group followed that up with a lovely cover of And It Stoned Me which was followed by a scorching Jessica. All in all, the opening stanza was a wonderful prelude to Fillmore East set.

Allman Brothers Band – Whipping Post

Now, the younger generation of Allman players are legendary for their scholar-like knowledge of the classic ABB catalogue. They have an uncanny ability to make the notes ring true like the original versions, yet re-invent them in their own voice. This was masterfully demonstrated by Derek, Warren, Oteil and percussionist Marc Quinones at the Orpheum. With that being said, they still had to kick it up a notch to keep up with their elders for the second set.

The original Allman Brothers came out on that stage not to re-live old nostalgia, but to play the songs that made them famous and continue this legacy that they created. Drummers Jaimoe and Butch Trucks were locked in, Butch on the backbeat and Jaimoe with his jazz accents. Gregg sung his ass off and took folks to church on his B3. They continued this energy for the whole set, making those “At Fillmore East” notes hit like the old days. You could feel the magic as they opened up the set’s Statesboro Blues with Derek nailing the lead part in the original vernacular but still giving it his classic Trucks spin. Gregg really sang his heart out, honoring the legacy that his fallen brothers’ left behind, and continuing what he and his bandmates have kept alive. If he faltered on one lyric, then he’d belt out the next one even harder. It’s not easy to sing with the same wind you had in your twenties when you’re in your sixties, but Gregg put as much heart and soul into every song as his fans could have asked for. Not to mention, he played some great organ.

Allman kicked off the Hot’Lanta B3 rip and didn’t let up, fueling the fire for Derek and Warren to push each other more and more. Liz Reed was especially poignant, with Haynes continuing the trend of offering lovely similarities to the original during the first solo. Warren then handed it to Derek for some amazing fretwork that got the whole band wrapped around his solo. Gregg came in on organ for a bit, passed it back to Haynes’ for another scorching solo, then closed it out. They went into the JaMaBu drum solo next and you could really tell how well Jaimoe was playing. The drummer played with lots of energy and he hardly took a break on this night.

The Allman Brothers Band closed out the evening with a mean Whipping Post which featured the incredible Oteil Burbridge dropping that quintessential thunderous bass line, which drove the whole band. Gregg wailed on vocals and Warren soared on lead guitar. All of the members of the band were so locked in, it was an awesome display of the power that this band still has 42 years after forming. Amen.

Set I: Don’t Want You No More > Not My Cross To Bear > Guilded Splinters, Midnight Rider, Jam > Rockin’ Horse > Every Hungry Woman, And It Stoned Me > Jessica

Set II: Statesboro Blues, Done Somebody Wrong, Stormy Monday, You Don’t Love Me, Hot ‘Lanta, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed

Encore: Whipping Post

[via AllmanBrothersBand.com]

Check back later this week for more from Stuart on the ABB in Boston.

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7 Responses

  1. I was fortunate enough to see these guys with Derek Trucks awhile back at The Greek Theatre. Awesome to see these guys still tearing it up! For anyone who has not seen the Allman Brothers, I highly suggest it 🙂

  2. “Gregg really sang his heart out” I must have been at a different Allman Brothers show at the Orpheum. Gregg struggled remembering the lyrics, struggled knowing when to come in with the lyrics, and even when he remembered the lyrics, he struggled to deliver them in time with the tempo of the song. This happened on and off all three nights I was there, including this first night. The music was great, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but I don’t see how a fair review can overlook this.

  3. Gary, I agree that Gregg had some senior moments. Moreso on 3rd night than any. But I never called the set flawless, & I still thought his performance was heartfelt. When he did miss lyrics, he’d belt out next one even harder. There were some bumps & bruises but I still felt it was a great show & Gregg had some fabulous moments. Sorry you didn’t agree with me. Long Live Gregg Allman!!!! -Stuart Raper

  4. I thought night 1 was indeed smoking hot with particular props to Oteil and Derek…but they all played their asses off. Whipping Post was indeed a great version. I’ve seen 20 ABB shows or so and this was definitely a memorable one.

    Question: Were the album performances announced ahead of time or were they a surprise to everyone. Certainly was to me. Though definitely a pleasant surprise!

  5. Parker- Derek and Oteil were definitely ripping as usual. And Yes.. they did announce that they would be doing at fillmore east and eat a peach in boston. Gregg called in and announced it at a local radio station, then ABB put it on website. Glad you enjoyed it like I did.

  6. Great review. You really took in some of the energy and brought it back for us who weren’t there. I did download the Eat A Peach show and it too is amazing. can’t wait for the Beacon 2012!

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