This is part two of promised posts to “rock your weekend.” I had to pull the Black Keys post that was up earlier offline (hopefully temporarily.)

So we’ll skip ahead to the second planned post.

It was practically Jam Band Week here in Cleveland – The Black Crowes were at the House of Blues for two back to back nights on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Dave Matthews Band were at Blossom on Wednesday night as well. Thursday night saw the return of Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule to Cleveland for a show at House of Blues.

Taking a slight sniff of the crowd, I’m convinced that some of them might have been holdovers from The Black Crowes shows that week.

Now about those Mule cats – we’ll get to that in a second.

First, I’d like to highlight a great post that Bob Lefsetz wrote this week, spotlighting the relationship between Dave Matthews Bands and their fanbase. Specifically honing in on the wealth of unofficial live material that is available on the web via dontburnthepig.org.

I’m not a huge DMB fan, but Bob caught my attention with a mention of the band’s recent cover of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.”

Dave Matthews Band – Sledgehammer

Bob also piqued my curiosity with his description of the band’s own “The Dreaming Tree.”

This is the DMB’s best number, in my estimation. It’s got all the dreaminess of days gone by without being meandering. This is the kind of music you want to listen to alone in your bedroom in the middle of the night, when you’ve got more questions than answers.

I had to hear it for myself, and so I tracked down a recent live version.

Dave Matthews Band – The Dreaming Tree

When you talk about songs and moments that made you a fan, or a bigger fan of a certain band/artist, this particular 15 minute-plus rendition of “The Dreaming Tree” might do the trick for me.

So cool.

Back to Gov’t Mule – as it happens, Matthews was in attendance for the show, although he didn’t play with the band. This was the first time that I’d seen Gov’t Mule in nearly five years. The last time, actually ended up being a rock and roll experience that led to me making the connection on my current job. Anytime you can land a hot lead on a job, and see a good rock show, all in the same night, is a great night in my opinion.

My longtime rock and roll comrade Mark (also with me at the last show) came in from Detroit for the show, and it was a typically great set from the Mule that included covers of “Maggot Brain,” and “After Midnight” to close out the first set. When it was all said and done, Gov’t Mule had been on stage for two and a half hours, ending their set about thirty minutes past midnight.

We got to see Warren Haynes playing his twelve string Les Paul, which according to Haynes, is one of only two in existence. Haynes owns one, and the other one is owned by GNR rocker Slash.

The gig will be available officially via Mule Tracks, so keep your eyes peeled.

In the meantime, I needed live Mule for my ears, and came up with this show from Lawrence, KS in 2003.

You never know what you’ll hear when you go to a Mule show – On this particular night in Lawrence, KS, the musical path was fairly obviously to me as the band began to play “Eminence Front,” but apparently, they caught at least one member of the audience completely by surprise. I LOVE his reaction when the song kicks into full gear.

Gov’t Mule
Liberty Hall
Lawrence, KS
11/11/03

Track Listing:

Complete Zipped Download

Disc One:

01. Soulshine > Rocking Horse
02. Take Me To the River
03. Life Before Insanity
04. I Think You Know What I Mean
05. Lay of the Sunflower >
06. Into the Mystic >
07. Thorazine Shuffle
08. Key to the Highway */ Snatch it Back and Hold It *

Disc Two:

01. Lucky **
02. Sco-Mule **
03. Monkey Hill >
04. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) >
05. Eminence Front >
06. Drums >
07. Drift Away>
08. I Shall Return>Drift Away

Disc Three:

01. Mule

(Encore:)

02. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away>Pygmy
03. Blind Man in the Dark

* w/ Chris Robinson & Paul Stacey
** w/ Paul Stacey
*** w/ George Laks

Relevant Links:

Gov’t Mule official site

Mule Tracks

dontburnthepig.org

Purchase Gov’t Mule The Deep End Live: Vol 1 and Vol 2