On Saturday, The Peach Festival in Scranton, Pennsylvania, came to its head, with the Peach Tribute to Butch Trucks and Gregg Allman serving as the weekend’s crowning jewel. Since its inception back in 2012, The Peach Festival has always served as an extended family gathering for the Allman Brothers Band—year after year, the event has hosted the band, its members’ various side projects, and their expansive musical family to join together and celebrate. Following this year’s losses of Butch Trucks and Gregg Allman, The Peach Festival became a place for catharsis for both artists and fans alike, with the event’s lineup sporting numerous tributes to the historic Southern rock band. However, of the various tributes, scheduled or not, that have gone down over the weekend, none was more anticipated than Saturday’s Peach Tribute, which was put together by the masterful former ABB keyboardist Chuck Leavell, who served as the tribute’s musical director.
Peach Music Festival Kicks Off With Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Dopapod Orchestra, And More
Peach Festival Sees MMJ Cover ABB, Lettuce With Chaka Khan, And More [Video/Audio/Photo]
The tribute sported an unreal lineup of legendary musicians, with many of those on tap related to the Allman Brothers Band by blood or musically and making the set function as a family gathering in the truest sense of the word. ABB members Jaimoe, Oteil Burbridge, and Marc Quinones were all in attendance, along with Butch’s nephew and Widespread Panic drummer Duane Trucks, Gregg’s son and guitarist Devon Allman, and Butch Trucks’s son and guitarist Vaylor Trucks. In addition, former ABB guitarist Jack Pearson, keyboardist Bruce Katz (who formerly toured with both Butch and Gregg’s bands as well as Les Brers), Lamar Williams Jr. (son of former ABB bassist, Lamar Williams, and vocalist of Les Brers), Les Brers guitarist Pat Bergeson, musical director of the Gregg Allman Band and guitarist Scott Sharrard, rising guitarist and vocalist Marcus King, GAB keyboardist Peter Levin, and Berry Oakley Jr. (son of original ABB bassist Berry Oakley) all participated in the massive tribute set.
However, while this line-up in and of itself is already the stuff of legends, as to be expected, the set hosted a number of spectacular unannounced sit-ins, including those by Warren Haynes and Widespread Panic’s Jimmy Herring and Dave Schools among others. For the duration of the performance, Duane was stationed in Butch’s place behind the kit, along with Jaimoe and Marc—mirroring the original Allman Brothers Band set-up—with Oteil holding down the bass for the majority of the set save Schools’ various sit-ins. Chuck Leavell also played for the duration of the tribute, while Katz and Levin traded off in Gregg’s spot. The performance also offered a tribute to another fallen brother lost this year, Col. Bruce Hampton, with a rendition of “Yield Not To Temptation.” You can check out videos from this epic tribute to Gregg Allman and Butch Trucks below.
“Come And Go Blues”
[Video courtesy of pwm112]
“Yield Not To Temptation”
[Video courtesy of Sean Roche]
“Midnight Rider”
[Video courtesy of pwm112]
“Southbound”
[Video courtesy of thegrassman]
While the Peach Tribute to Gregg Allman and Butch Trucks served as a focal of Saturday’s festivities, yesterday, The Peach Festival by no means began with the evening’s all-star tribute set. Lettuce and Soulive’s Eric Krasno joined up with the Marcus King Band during the group’s daytime set at the Mushroom Stage, while later in the day, Rusted Root hosted the young guitar prodigy, Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, during their own show. Ahead of the tribute set on the main Peach Stage, Umphrey’s McGee primed the stage, with their super-heavy set offering something different in comparison to the Southern rock stylings that ruled the majority of the day and night.
Marcus King Band with Eric Krasno, “Rita Is Gone”
[Video courtesy of Sean Roche]
The tribute set to Butch Trucks and Gregg Allman welcomed in the night, which saw performances by Widespread Panic, an additional set by Umphrey’s McGee, and Gov’t Mule and friends, including John Scofield among others. Opening with three originals, following the title track off their latest album—Revolution Come, Revolution Go—Gov’t Mule moved into a cover of The Marshall Tucker Band‘s “Can’t You See”, which featured sit-ins by Marcus King and Jack Pearson. As an appropriate tribute to the Allman Brothers Band following this sit-in, the band moved into a heartfelt rendition of “Soulshine,” which segued into “Night Time Is The Right Time.” John Scofield came out for renditions of “Devils Likes It Slow,” “Which Way Do We Run?,” and a cover of his own “Hottentot.” Closing out their set, the group covered Allman Brother Band’s “Kind Of Bird,” which saw a reprise of “Traveling Tune” ahead of the final song—a cover of Neil Young’s “Cortez The Killer,” that saw both Widespread Panic’s John Bell and Jimmy Herring end out the set.
Gov’t Mule with Marcus King and Jack Pearson, “Can’t You See”
[Video courtesy of Sean Roche]
Panic’s set featured a heavy helping of classic Panic favorites including the particularly fiery “Big Wooly Mammoth” > “Pilgrims” > “Party At Your Mama’s House” > “Ribs & Whiskey” run that served as the meat of the set, and also saw the band channel their inner ZZ Top by covering the first two cuts off 1973 classic Tres Hombres: “Waiting For The Bus” and “Jesus Just Left Chicago.” Perhaps the most notable highlights featured two of the finest young guitarists in the game—Brandon “Taz” Niederauer and Marcus King—who joined them onstage in turn for a pair of thrilling sit-ins. Taz joined the band for an extended take on “Surprise Valley,” the opening cut from their 1999 LP ‘Til the Medicine Takes. Following Taz’s appearance, vocalist John Bell welcomed King, who helped the band through thrilling renditions of Robert Johnson blues mainstay “Me and the Devil Blues” and Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime.” To close out their show, Widespread Panic performed Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns, and Money.”
Widespread Panic with Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, “Surprise Valley”
[Video courtesy of Michael Sylvester]
“Lawyers, Guns, And Money”
[Video courtesy of Sean Roche]
With The Peach Festival serving as an extended family gathering for the Allman Brothers Band, it’s clear this year, it went above and beyond in carrying on the memory of the two rock legends the band lost this year. The Peach Tribute set was one of legends and a fitting way to help both musicians and fans alike celebrate the lives and legacies of Gregg Allman and Butch Trucks. With this tribute as the day’s centerpiece, Saturday at The Peach Festival was an all-around unreal day of music that will be remembered and relistened to for years to come. The Peach Festival wraps up its final day today with an additional performance by Widespread Panic, as well as sets by Joe Bonamassa, Mike Gordon, Les Brers final performance, and more.
You can check out photos of what went down at The Peach Festival yesterday below, courtesy of Phierce Photo by Keith G. (Instagram: @PhiercePhoto).
The post Peach Fest Hosts Legendary Tribute To Gregg Allman And Butch Trucks, Widespread, Mule, And More appeared first on L4LM.
