Gov’t Mule played the Wiltern Theater February 15th in Los Angeles, CA. The band was formed in 1994 as a side project to the Allman brothers by guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody who had both joined the band in 1989. Haynes had replaced co-founding member Dickey Betts. Matt Abts has been the drummer since 1994. Woody tragically passed away in 2000 at the age of 44 and there would be a number of iconic bassists and keyboardists that performed with Gov’t Mule until Andy Hess became the bassist 2003-08 and keyboardist Danny Louis joined in 2002. Jorgen Carsson would be the bassist for the next 15 years followed by Kevin Scott the current bassist making their latest release Peace… Like a River (2023) the fifth and final studio album of their longest running lineup.
There was no opener and Gov’t Mule took the stage close to 8:30 and played two sets as jam bands typically do and a different setlist each night. The first set of eight songs began with “Rocking Horse” and ended with “Time To Confess. Set two began with the great Al Green’s “I’m a Ram” and also included a cover of Jeff Beck’s “Freeway Jam” paying tribute to the guitar giant who passed January 10th, 2023, and a cover of blues legend Howlin’ Wolf’s “I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline). The last song before the encore was “Thorazine Shuffle” and “Endless Parade” was the last song of this 16-song set.
