Gov’t Mule and Chris Robinson played to a loaded audience October 12 at the State Theater in Portland. The show was a routine triumph for the former and a partial disappointment for the latter.
Robinson, formerly of the Black Crowes, opened the show with his band New Earth Mud, a four-piece that plays basic rock with an appealing loose swing. Shaggy-haired and bearded, Robinson danced on the stage and sung with enthusiasm.
Meanwhile the audience, young and old, was getting loaded. Nearly everyone had a cup of beer in hand, and some people were carrying four cups of beer in their hands. A large mob crowded in front of the small bar, as the bartenders frantically tried to keep up with demand.
Many people were dancing while holding their beer cups; others danced while passing a liquor bottle. And quite a few supplemented their alcohol intake by lighting up the wacky weed.
In any case, you would have had to be drunk not to notice that Chris Robinson wasn’t quite hitting all the notes. He did well enough through the repeated choruses, but his soul style ad-libs were too off-key to be effective. Enthusiasm counts, but not for much if you don’t have accuracy — especially if you’re the lead singer. From the evidence of his Portland performance, Robinson needs a recording studio to come off as a strong singer.
After Robinson finished his set, the audience’s anticipation seemed to build, and it was soon obvious whom they really came to hear. When Gov’t Mule guitarist/singer Warren Haynes casually walked onstage to start tuning up, the crowd roared with approval. Within a couple minutes, Gov’t Mule was playing the thunderous opening notes of their performance, as clouds of marijuana smoke floated up into the State Theater’s lighting system.
Throughout the show, the focus was almost exclusively on Haynes. Sure, Matt Abts is a powerful drummer, and both organist Danny Louis and new bass player Andy Hess do a good job. But Warren Haynes is the hero of the band.
From the moment he started playing, it was easy to see why. He’s a first-rate talent on guitar, with a bluesy rock style and a gift for improvisation. Unlike Chris Robinson, Haynes wasn’t wild with enthusiasm, nor did he dance around the stage. Instead, he stood still most of the time and seemed entirely concentrated on his playing and singing. The result was a great performance, delivered with discipline and care, yet not at all lacking in emotion or spontaneity.
On the contrary; the band’s slow rendition of Steve Winwood’s “Empty Pages,” with Haynes’ fine vocals, Abts’ heavy drumming, and Hess’s lively bass work, was emotionally resonant enough to make that wordy nonsense song seem like it actually meant something. That’s an achievement.
Other covers included the Beatles’ “She Said She Said” and a long, wild version of “Tomorrow Never Knows,” complete with psychedelic-style sound effects from Haynes’ guitar.
Gov’t Mule is nothing if not solid. They don’t waste time with introductions or between-song comments – they just get on stage and play their music the best they can. One got the impression that their Portland performance was nothing special to them – they simply played with the same skill, devotion and enthusiasm they bring to all their shows.
There’s something to be admired about this kind of dedication to craft and respect for the audience. Gov’t Mule probably isn’t the best band in rock, but it’s hard to think of a band that’s more dependable.
Brian O’Keefe can be contacted at [email protected]