The (Allman) Brothers Make Spectacular Return To MSG: Live Review

New York City – For only the second time in the 11 years since the Allman Brothers Band disbanded, the guitarists driving its final lineup have reunited for a pair of Live Nation-promoted concerts in the BB’s adopted springtime home of New York City. Based on Tuesday’s electrifying three-hour show at a sold-out Madison Square Garden, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks and the troupe billed as The Brothers invigoratingly worked their way through one of classic rock’s greatest repertoires with consistent inventiveness and grit.

It was a night with a ceiling-high pile of guitar solos that echoed the greatness of the music’s originators, Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, with personal touches that extended the music’s vitality and prove this material has yet to hit its expiration date.

The Brothers leaned heavily on the songs that established the Allmans as one of the greatest live bands of the late 1960s and early ‘70s; six of the night’s selections appeared on their landmark seven-song set from 1971 Live at the Fillmore East and only two of the evening’s 19 songs hailed from post-1980 albums.

To top it off, what other classic rock band can please their fan base and successfully get away with not playing their biggest hit? They opened with an obvious choice – “Statesboro Blues” – and closed with the equally obvious “Whipping Post,” consistently wowing the crowd with intense guitar interplay over a rolling thunder of rhythm provided by the three drummers, Jaimoe, Marc Quiñones and Joe Russo. Considering all the influences the
Allmans distilled in their music, this night was particularly bluesy.

Haynes and Trucks didn’t start stretching out the material until the sixth song, “Black Hearted Woman,” coloring their solos with low rumbles and piercing high notes, an effect their employed with equal success on “You Don’t Love Me.” Elsewhere, the two leaned into the melodicism of “Blue Sky,” captured the measured mournfulness and jubilation of “Dreams” and delivered an epic reading of “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” that included a duel between Haynes and bassist Oteil Burbridge.

Haynes had the unenviable task of handling lead vocals for the night, capturing the late Gregg Allman’s weathered tone best on “Come and Go Blues”; he was especially strong on the slower blues numbers, chiefly on “Gambler’s Roll” and “Dreams.” (Guest Chuck Leavell, the band’s pianist during their 1970s commercial heyday, sang Betts’ “Blue Sky.”)

Allman’s replacement on the organ, Reese Wynans, a member of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble who played with Betts and Oakley in the 1960s and participated in the early jams that led to the forming of the ABB, stayed mostly in the background. Leavell got to show off his chops on – what else? – “Jessica,” which was the only song that took a few stanzas to find its footing.

The night included a couple of surprises: “Walk on Gilded Splinters,” a tip of the cap to Duane Allman’s session work in the ‘60s, having provided slide guitar to Johnny Jenkins’ recording; and Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic,” a song that the final version of the ABB added to the repertoire late in their run.

For those who didn’t follow the ever-shifting line-ups of the band – Jaimoe remains the only original member –  there’s no shortage of ABB credentials among the other musicians, most of whom were regulars during the ABB’s nearly 250 shows at the Beacon Theatre. Haynes, whose association with Gregg Allman and Betts dates back to the late 1980s, and Trucks were together for the final 15 years of the ABB’s 45-year off-and-on existence, Burbridge had a 1997-2014 run prior to joining Dead & Co., and Quiñones started working with the Allmans in 1991. This is by no means a ghost band.

Back in the day they were so much more than “Ramblin’ Man,” which this two-night-only extravaganza made abundantly clear. They took the bones of this music and the spirit of the band at its best and made it modern and exceptional, worthy of further exploration.

The Brothers are managed by Andy Mendelsohn/Full Stop Management and Stefani Scamardo/Hard Head Management, repped by CJ Strock/Mint Talent Agency and pubilcity by Bari Lieberman/Press Here.

First Set

“Statesboro Blues”

“Trouble No More”

“Nobody to Run With”

“Hot ‘Lanta”

“Midnight Rider”

“Black Hearted Woman”

“Blue Sky” (with Chuck Leavell on piano and vocals)

“Gambler’s Roll” (with Chuck Leavell on piano)

“Come and Go Blues” (with Chuck Leavell on piano)

“Walk on Gilded Splinters” (with Chuck Leavell on piano)

“Jessica” (with Chuck Leavell on piano)

Second Set

“Mountain Jam”>”Stormy Monday”

“You Don’t Love Me”

“Dreams”

“In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”

“Into the Mystic” (with Chuck Leavell on piano)

“Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” (with Chuck Leavell on piano)

“High Falls”>”Mountain Jam” (with Chuck Leavell on piano)

Encore

“Whipping Post” (with Chuck Leavell on piano)