Gov't Mule and their gimmicks, sigh... How I yearn for th days when yo could roll into a club or Lil theater n have your ass blown out with a Temp Saint, Dolphineus>Painted Silver Light. Monkey Hill...L.C Groovies..World gone Wild>Far Away.

Not a fan of this and think it is a desperate way to try to pull in bigger crowds. Good luck to them but I am sitting this one out and I try to catch as often as I can.

Bring it on. I'll be there for a couple of them.

With the understanding that the music industry has changed and creative ways of generating revenue must be explored, this seems a little tired. How many times have they gone to this well? Will still support but may purchase old Mule Tracks as an alternative.

Glad I'm not the only one. I love Mule...hence my handle. That said...don't they have an album to promote? It may not be Dose, but it a solid effort. As a huge mule fan...I suppose I'm just sick of covers dominating sets. So much great, overlooked material from post-Woody albums as well.

As much as I love the Mule, I too, am tired of covers of overplayed FM staples.
They have plenty of their own great music that can be played.
Go ahead and tease me with something in the middle of a few songs if need be,and please end the show with an original.

Their Halloween shows have always been an event - saw the one they did Hendrix which was cool. They are only doing this for 6 shows and Peach Fest .... I'm in - especially since the Tinley Park show is 10-15 minutes from home.... also interested in seeing Magpie. Mule did a midnight show at Wanee once that started very late - but they started with One of These Days..... and it got everything going....

This is from the Mule email:

Gov't Mule returns with The Dark Side of the Mule this Summer for six shows with The Avett Brothers and special guests The Magpie Salute. Fans are in store for a mind-blowing night that will bring a full set from The Avett Brothers followed by Gov't Mule which will morph into DARK SIDE OF THE MULE, an audio and visual spectacular which will see Gov't Mule performing some of Pink Floyd's most iconic and beloved songs. For these shows, Gov't Mule, along with several special guest musicians, will present their most ambitious and advanced live production and light show yet, befitting the incredible music of Pink Floyd.

The tour will make stops in Wantagh, NY, Holmdel, NJ, Mansfield, MA, Nobilesville, IN, Tinley Park, IL and Clarkston, MI. There have only been two previous Dark Side of the Mule shows to date - Halloween 2008 in Boston and Mountain Jam 2015 - with the only other performance scheduled at this year's Peach Music Festival.

Magpie will be worth the price of admission alone. Rich Robinson & Marc Ford?

The real Gov't Mule died with Allen Woody.

[Edited on 3/18/2018 by Dino]

Sadly I never got to see the Mule with Woody.... I've seen them twice and I did enjoy each show but didn't blow me away like I'd hoped.

The real Gov't Mule died with Allen Woody.

[Edited on 3/18/2018 by Dino]

Do you feel the same way about the ABB? They kept going. Just curious.

Sadly I never got to see the Mule with Woody.... I've seen them twice and I did enjoy each show but didn't blow me away like I'd hoped.

I've seen and heard people refer to him as a monster on bass. I've never been a huge bass fan but my God he was something.

I never thought Andy Hess filled that role. I think Jorgen is closer to Woody.

Sadly I never got to see the Mule with Woody.... I've seen them twice and I did enjoy each show but didn't blow me away like I'd hoped.

I've seen and heard people refer to him as a monster on bass. I've never been a huge bass fan but my God he was something.

I never thought Andy Hess filled that role. I think Jorgen is closer to Woody.

Jorgen may be closer...but he still isn't close. He is certainly an outstanding bass player tho, and a great fit for Mule. The 'Woody is a Monster' thing really may be the only way to describe it. Man...when he'd kick back, lay his head back and start rolling those double-taps...massive tone and attack from those SICK, SICK guitars he'd play. Geez...the Thunderbird. I miss Capt Al terribly still...so fortunate I saw him, I was young too. A devastating loss...

The real Gov't Mule died with Allen Woody.

[Edited on 3/18/2018 by Dino]

Do you feel the same way about the ABB? They kept going. Just curious.

Apples and Oranges Lee ....

Gov't Mule and their gimmicks, sigh... How I yearn for th days when yo could roll into a club or Lil theater n have your ass blown out with a Temp Saint, Dolphineus>Painted Silver Light. Monkey Hill...L.C Groovies..World gone Wild>Far Away.

Agreed. Their new album is not that good at all either.

I loved mule in the 90s and very early 2000s, but unfortunately they're way too gimmicky now, and have been for a long time.

Allen Woody was their best bassist. Unfortunately none of the other bassists they have had since his OD on heroin have been nearly as incredible, powerful, and skilled as he was at playing bass.

If anyone here on this forum or reading this is into getting high on opiates, or addicted to them, please get help and get off of them.

[Edited on 3/18/2018 by The_Newt]

Avett Brothers are great. I have seen them 4 times, including back to back nights at the Fox in Atlanta. From a style standpoint, they are a good bit different than Mule (even doing covers) and Magpie. Intense but a lot more quite stuff mixed in (and no extended guitar solos).

But I have to say the best part of this announcement is that Dino and Lee are commenting on the same topic. For a moment, I was transported back to 2005.

Ha that's pretty funny Tim. I think Dino might still believe I owe him something for a USC / Michigan bet we made years ago. 😛

I would prefer a club Mule show also, but left's face facts - when they play Chicago they are lucky to sell out the Riv (2500) or the Vic (1000). The Mule on it's own is not going to fill a 20,000 seat outdoor barn...... listening to the Dark Side of the Mule cd they put out - the first cd was all Mule stuff, the next 2 were Floyd and a Million Miles From Yesterday and Blind Man in the Dark finish..... can't believe I just figured out that there was a bonus DVD disk in the pack with the whole thing in surround sound..... 😮

As I stated in my previous post, I still love the Mule alot, but have way too much good music of their own to do covers of songs that we've heard a million times.
It also just occurred to me that Warren didn't start all of that stuff until he got affiliated with the Dead

I have no issue with the Mule playing some Floyd shows. They play 90ish some shows a year - if they want to take 6 or 8 of them and do something different - I have no problem with that. I don't see it as a gimmick, they are going to play 80 some normal Mule shows too, there'll be ample opportunity to see a standard Mule show too if that's what one prefers.

Worth noting that Marc Ford played in Blue Floyd with Woody and Matt Abts - seems like a reasonable bet that he might get in on some of the Floyd action during this run.

Ha that's pretty funny Tim. I think Dino might still believe I owe him something for a USC / Michigan bet we made years ago. 😛

You made good on that bet Lee and i wear that shirt proudly to this day!!

As I stated in my previous post, I still love the Mule alot, but have way too much good music of their own to do covers of songs that we've heard a million times.
It also just occurred to me that Warren didn't start all of that stuff until he got affiliated with the Dead

I love early mule, but they have always played covers.

I know that they have always played covers.
My main point was that they have quite the catalog of their own music that they can play instead.
I also hate when they or any other band ends a show with a cover.

So much hate. Warren and the Mule live really never disappoint. Plus the Avetts and Magpie Salutes debut ... come on ... GTFO ... Some of you may remember Blue Floyd ... Marc Ford, Rich Robinson, the Avetts joining forces with the Mule ... joe can ya lose.

Some of my favorite live Mule shows are ones when they play Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World. It is always the last song or the last song of the first set. I was at a killer show years ago when Grace Potter opened and she came out and they did it for the last song of the first set.

They always kill the song but this was out of the world! Heh Heh...

So much hate. Warren and the Mule live really never disappoint. Plus the Avetts and Magpie Salutes debut ... come on ... GTFO ... Some of you may remember Blue Floyd ... Marc Ford, Rich Robinson, the Avetts joining forces with the Mule ... joe can ya lose.

I don't hate the mule. I love them ! They're one of my favorite bands and have been since their inception !

I think this a phenomenal line-up and I'm much more a Woody era fan...but damn, if you've never seen the Avett Bros you're in for a treat. Wild ass, energetic show.
And Magpie as the opener. Are you kidding me...?!?! They may be the best new band on the road today.

I agree with Sang for once. 😉 I was VERY surprised to see them headlining shows at sheds (albeit just a few). The only time I saw them at a shed was Woody era when they opened for Steve Miller so that obviously goes back a way. I'm going to try to go home and make the Detroit show.

As others have opined, this is a very well put together lineup. I want to see The Avett Brothers as I have seen people give them such high praise. And Magpie Salute is awesome!

I am beyond excited for the Dark Side of the Mule show at the PNC - this is a bucket list item for me -