Guest Book

Here are a couple of newspaper reviews from the Boston-area show. They're kind of long, but they're all good, although the guy from the Boston paper spelled the lead singer's name Greg and the other guy called one of his songs ``Midnight Rambler.'' It's a lot of reading, but you don't have anything better to do, so enjoy .... HEADLINE: Allman Brothers show new tricks; Iconic Southern rockers freshen classic offerings By Scott McLennan Telegram & Gazette Reviewer MANSFIELD -- When traveling with the Allman Brothers Band, the road map often looks familiar - a set list stacked with such vintage fare as "Whipping Post," "Dreams," "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and so on - yet the trips always lead to some place new. That was the case Saturday when the Allmans made their annual stop at the Tweeter Center. In a marathon concert replete with drum jams, guitar duels and guest walk-ons, the band made a convincing stand for the virtues of blues-drenched psychedelic rock. Where the Allmans could easily fall off into the bin of hippie artifacts, the band instead proved itself to be as vital as ever. The success of the current incarnation of the Allmans in large part is because of the guitar team of Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes, a tandem that in talent rivals the original lineup's Duane Allman and Dickey Betts (though those two will remain revered for crafting the language of Southern psychedelia). Haynes and Trucks do not really square off as players, instead entering into elaborate musical collaborations, both players switching back and forth between pliant slide-guitar playing and stinging parts that are picked and strummed. And the two guitarists are so eloquent in the way they musically converse that it seemingly inspired the other band members to make sure their contributions to the songs were likewise as fresh. The old guard, made up of singer and keyboard player Gregg Allman and drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe, didn't sit back and let Haynes, Trucks and fellow next-gen Allmans Oteil Burbridge, on bass, and Marc Quinones, on percussion, steal the thunder. Allman's singing and playing were both laid back and assured, and the veteran drummers practically steered the ship with the way they created the openings for the soloists to step into. Just as effectively, they snapped long jams back into focus. After a satisfying opening set by the Haynes-led Gov't Mule, the Allmans came out with the opening tracks of the band's 1969 debut album, hammering the harmonic hypnotics of "Don't Want You No More" before conjuring the slow burn of "It's Not My Cross to Bear." The band would return to that album throughout the night, resurrecting staggering versions of "Every Hungry Woman," "Dreams" and "Whipping Post," that last song making an encore and laying to waste any hackneyed stereotypes the song has drawn over the years. Allman came out from his keyboard corner to play acoustic guitar for a sweet and stripped version of "Melissa." But he was at his best burrowing into the organ or piano and wailing the vocals on "Midnight Rambler," "Ain't Wasting Time No More" and "Statesboro Blues." While the bulk of the show had its heart in the band's first great era of 1969 to 1972, the Allmans sparked some hot playing around the newer "Woman Across the River," on which Haynes sang lead vocals. The masterful guitarist also led the charge through a soulful cover of The Band's "The Weight," which Gov't Mule keyboard player Danny Louis sat in on. Besides Louis, the band welcomed guitarist Junior Mack to add a third six-string voice to "One Way Out" and sax player Jay Collins, who joined the improvisational madness that erupted during "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," perhaps the night's most spirited interpretation of an old war horse. Before unleashing "Whipping Post," Haynes and Derek Trucks came out for an encore of Son House's "Preaching Blues." It was riveting, with Trucks playing a spiritual brand of slide guitar, matching Haynes' moaning and aching delivery of the tale about one man's dubious religious awakening. And it was the night's most basic example of how the Allmans borrow from the past to create new works for the present. Gov't Mule, a band Haynes started in 1994 alongside his work with the Allmans, delivered a knockout opening set, showcasing strong material from its new album "High & Mighty," which they played alongside such older gems as "Thorazine Shuffle." HEADLINE: Allmans ramblin' down road that evokes brilliance of old By JED GOTTLIEB The Boston Herald MANSFIELD -- Everything sublime about the Allman Brothers can be summed up in two songs - two very, very long songs. At the nearly sold-out Tweeter Center show Saturday, Greg Allman and his crew of rock 'n' roll craftsmen filled 55 minutes with their live staples ``In Memory of Elizabeth Reed'' and ``Whipping Post.'' And as blasphemous as this may be, the jams prove they're capable of transcending their legendary 1971 Fillmore East run. How is this possible? Well, Allman's voice is nicely settling into its whiskey-soaked prime. Oteil Burbridge is their best bassist yet. Extra percussionist Marc Quinones has given founding drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe more focus and vigor. And guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks have the chemistry and skills to rival original guitarists Dickey Betts and Duane Allman. In nearly three hours, the band played choice hits (``Midnight Rider,'' ``Melissa'') and covers (the classic ``One Way Out'' and the Band's ``The Weight ''), but it was the show's climax that verified their brilliance. The night's final hour was consumed by the impressive one-two punch of ``Elizabeth Reed'' and the encore ``Whipping Post.'' Many jam bands try to turn tunes into quadratic equations. It's a game of how complex can they make a song with intricate tunings piled upon copious chord changes piled upon bizarre time signatures. Musically, ``Elizabeth Reed'' hints at the game, yet it doesn't sound like complexity for complexity's sake. Like a jazz standard played to perfection, the song lets every band member step out for a solo. While the whole band is at the top of its game, Trucks stands out as a singular talent. Never overly flashy, Trucks does what the song demands of him. He'll take long, slow slide solos in which every note is deliberate. But he'll also let the feedback fly and twist and turn in a furious flurry of notes. ``Whipping Post'' has plenty of room to showcase soloists, but, unlike the instrumental ``Elizabeth Reed,'' the song's center of gravity is Allman's voice. For decades he's sung the refrain, ``Oh, lord I feel like I'm dying'' convincingly, but after a life of hard living and now pushing 60, Allman imbues the words with the harsh moan of crossroads-bound blues legend. This Allmans lineup will never be considered the classic lineup because there 's too much nostalgia and mystique attached to the Duane Allman years, and that's a shame because, at least for one Saturday night, the band sounded better than ever.