I gotta disagree with your review. I thought LS outplayed the ABB in B’ham and had the crowd in their pocket. They are a “canned” show these days and do it flawlessly. Their vocals, guitar, and show all are superb in the format as intended. The ABB that nite were
flat, unbalanced in sound, Warren obnoxious
in his domination over Derek, Gregg missing lyrics, just a poor showing for the premier band of the south. Now, on sat nite in Huntsville, a different ABB took the stage.
Fantastic show with Jack P. subbing for Derek.
LS did the same show with the same flawless
performance but the nite belonged to the ‘Bros
they were smokin!!
spdb

I have read several of the reviews and honestly, I guess I was at a different show. In my 30 + years of ABB shows, this show rates as one of the worst. The sound, Gregg’s miss
on lyric’s, Warren’s domination of guitar over Derek, just not a good show. The following show at Huntsville was much, much better.
Jack P. subbed for Derek.
I would certainly appreciate it if whomever is doing the reviews to tell the truth. Your fabrications don’t impress anyone.
spdb

I’ve seen ABB about 20 times and most all of them were better than this show. The band played great as usual, but the entire night was tainted with stinch of cheese from the Skynyrd opening performance. (Hey, its tough to recover after Ricky Metlocke spits water in your face!) Not to mention their pathetic fans, half of whom didn’t even stick around for what most of us call real music. Since the brothers play a different set every night and have something called improvisation it was probably a bit much for Skynyrd fans. Did they expect Gregg to dance around with leather pants?! I guess they figured they couldn’t wave their flag to Revival. I vote a big NO on Skynyrd ever opening for the Allman Brothers again. What a buncha tools!

Long live the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre (Verizon Wireless is just that same old tired, ubiquitous name you see everywhere these days)! As soon as the locals (esp. local politicians) wise up and reclaim the rightful name, the quality of acts seeking out this fine open-air venue may improve once again. As it is, the ABB is about the only band worth seeing there any more (anybody for an overdose of Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, and Martina McBride – it’s enough to make you blow chunks!!). And it’s a real shame, too – if the Pelham folks would take a look at Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater in Atlanta, as one example, they might learn how a nice facility such as ours can be operated profitably, and with a broad range of quality acts that will attract music fans of ALL kinds. But then again, who all remembers the stigma cast upon this facility and community as a result of the Widespread Panic undercover drug frenzy that occurred at Oak Mountain in 2002?? What fine examples of tolerance and fairness we are here in Pelham, Alabama!! So glad to see the Brothers haven’t yet foresaken the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre for greener pastures…..

5/13/2005

The Brothers opened up with a spirited Revival. Ain’t Wastin Time No More was very lovely with solos from both Warren and Derek. Gregg delivered an outstanding piano solo on Statesboro Blues. Warren was a lion on Worried with The Blues. Midnight Rider and The End of the Line may have been a bit familiar but The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down was anything but. Gregg and Warren harmonized seamlessly, their two voices blending together like brothers. Gregg lost the lyrics for a few bars after he sang the line “like my brother above me”. He reclaimed the beat and turned the song into a sermon. Stand Back was another highlight with Warren and Derek weaving their guitars. The Brothers stretched out on Rockin Horse. Warren took turns jamming face to face with Derek and Oteil. Gregg gave a soul stirring reading of Dreams. Derek danced all over a fresh Mountain Jam creating colors with his slide guitar. The band thumped and found yet another groove on One Way Out which ended with Gregg jamming on the last verse repeating the “there’s a man down there” verse several times in his authentic blues fashion. Oteil gave the band a strong heartbeat. He spent most of the evening swimming in the deep end with his four string. Frequently he laid the foundation with a circular strumming technique similar to Allen Woody. Butch was strong, tight and on time. Jaimoe was full of constant fills. Marc was all over the place. A couple of times the techs came on stage to apply repairs. The drums were melodic thunder. It felt like my head was in the center of a revolving figure of eight. When Oteil played solo on his 4 string I felt my spine vibrate when he hinted at the Other One. The lion roared once again for the encore Southbound. There was only the one encore but smiles from everyone. There were no tapers to be seen and when I inquired at the board if an instant live was going to be available I could not get an answer. One can only hope that there was a stealth taper in attendance. It was a lovely spring evening with the real deal in the air.

An open plea to Gregg, please reconsider allowing us to trade audio via the web, and thanks for a wonderful evening last night. Cheers!