Gov’t Mule kicked off the 10th installment of Island Exodus on Sunday at Runaway Bay at St. Ann Parish in Jamaica. For their first of three headlining shows at the destination event, the jam-titans teamed with longtime friend Ron Holloway and Lukas Nelson & Promise of The Real.
Warren Haynes & Co. kicked things off with a freeform jam that eventually worked its way into a pair of songs that nodded to last night’s super blood wolf moon. The quartet delivered a lengthy take on “Fool Moon’s” from their 2001 release The Deep End, Volume 1 that featured their debut of Van Morrison’s “Moondance” in its midst. Mule then got into the island spirit with reggae versions of “King’s Highway” and the Allman Brothers Band’s “Midnight Rider,” with the latter featuring Halloway on saxophone. The back half of the opening frame was highlighted by a string of Gov’t Mule classics with takes on “Slackjaw Jezebel,” “Banks Of The Deep End” and “Thorazine Shuffle.”
“Stone Cold Rage” was tapped to open up the second set. After “Drawn That Way,” Holloway once again emerged to assist on “Devil Likes It Slow.” Nelson along with the majority of Promise Of The Real – Cory McCormick, Anthony LoGerfo and Tato Melgar – took the stage next. The augmented ensemble dug in on the Neil Young & Crazy Horse jam-vehicle “Cowgirl In The Sand.” The musicians dropped a reggae version of U2’s “One” in the middle of the Young cover. The pairing of “Railroad Boy” and setlist staple “Mule” that once again featured Holloway brought the stanza to a close. Gov’t Mule delivered a two-song encore with a double-dose of gems from The Beatles psychedelic-era via “She Said, She Said” and “Tomorrow Never Knows.”
Setlist (via Gov’t Mule Facebook)
Set One: Jam > Fool’s Moon > Moondance* > Fool’s Moon, King’s Highway** > Midnight Rider**^, Larger Than Life, When The World Gets Small, Slackjaw Jezebel, Banks Of The Deep End, Thorazine Shuffle
Set Two: Stone Cold Rage, Drawn That Way, Devil Likes It Slow^, Rocking Horse, Cowgirl In The Sand^^ > One**^^ > Cowgirl In The Sand^^, Railroad Boy > Mule^
Encore: She Said, She Said > Tomorrow Never Knows
Notes:
- * First time played
- ** Reggae version
- ^ with Ron Holloway
- ^^ with Lukas Nelson, Cory McCormick, Anthony LoGerfo & Tato Melgar; without Jorgen Carlsson
