Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks brought a stripped-down band lineup to New Haven, CT’s Westville Music Bowl on Tuesday and Wednesday for a pair of Fireside LIVE performances.
Both nights of the run saw the band, which typically tours as a 12-piece, perform as a sextet featuring Trucks (guitar), Tedeschi (vocals, guitar), Brandon Boone (bass), Gabe Dixon (keyboards, organ, vocals), Mike Mattison (vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar), and Tyler “The Falcon” Greenwell (drums).
On night one, inclement weather pushed the show’s start time back, resulting in a performance featuring one long set. Following an opening pair of blues staples in “Statesboro Blues” and “Done Somebody Wrong”, the sextet dove into a stretch of original tunes as well as soulful selections from Mattison and Tedeschi’s solo catalogs.
After a “Let Me Get By” that took a searing detour through “Soul Serenade”, Susan dedicated John Prine‘s “Angel From Montgomery” to Prine and other loved ones lost last year. Later, a heated Allman Brothers Band “Dreams” cover (sung with gusto by Dixon) found its way into a jam on The Sound of Music‘s “My Favorite Things”, which in turn led to “The Storm” and a “Whipping Post” apex to close the set. For the encore, Susan returned to the helm for a selection from her solo repertoire, “The Feeling Music Brings”, a blues-rock anthem the band appropriately revived for the ongoing “comeback” tour after years on the shelf.
Related: Tedeschi Trucks Band Announces 2021 Beacon Theatre Residency
The second night of the run on Wednesday kicked off with more Tedeschi Trucks fan-favorites from across the band’s catalog in “Anyhow”, “Don’t Let Me Slide”, “Signs”, High Times”, “When Will I Begin”, “Made Up Mind”, and “Laugh About It”. The opening frame also featured a pair of songs from the Derek Trucks Band catalog—an early-show “Down, Don’t Bother Me” and a set-closing “Get What You Deserve”—allowing Trucks and Mike Mattison to channel the days when they always toured as a smaller unit.
For set two, the band started with a nod to the forthcoming Layla Revisited live album with a trio of songs found on Derek and the Dominos‘ Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, “Bell Bottom Blues”, “Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?”, and Charles Segar‘s “Key To The Highway”.
From there, the band dug back into Susan’s solo repertoire and dusted off the haunting “Looking For Answers”, another tune that has newly returned to the rotation on this tour. After a well-played “Little By Little”, a hair-raising “Shame”/”Midnight In Harlem” combo (bridged by a callback to the previous night’s “My Favorite Things” jam by Derek) kept the heat pouring out of the PA. After a climactic “I Want More” > “Soul Sacrifice” brought set two to a close, the band returned for a “Bound For Glory” encore.
While the more compact lineup trimmed back some of the elements that famously contribute to the band’s “big” sound—a second drummer, a horn section, and backing vocalists—the emotional impact of Tedeschi Trucks was felt no less powerfully during the Westville run. Susan Tedeschi still has the voice and soul of an angel, Derek Trucks remains a singular wonder on the Gibson SG, and the band they command is still one of the tightest, most skilled outfits in the land.
Below, you can check out setlists, full audio recordings, and select videos from each of the two Tedeschi Trucks Fireside LIVE shows at Westville Music Bowl. You can also scroll down to check out galleries of photos from both performances courtesy of photographer David Gray.
For a full list of upcoming Tedeschi Trucks Fireside LIVE tour dates, head here.
Setlist: Tedeschi Trucks | Westville Music Bowl | New Haven, CT | 7/6/21
Set: Statesboro Blues (Bline Willie McTell), Done Somebody Wrong (Elmore James), Do I Look Worried, Part of Me, Life Is Crazy (Mike Mattison), Don’t Drift Away, Just As Strange, Just Won’t Burn (Susan Tedechi), Let Me Get By > Soul Serenade (King Curtis), Angel From Montgomery (John Prine) > Sugaree (Garcia/Hunter), That Did It (Bobby “Blue” Bland), Dreams (Allman Brothers Band) > My Favorite Things Jam (Sound of Music) > The Storm > Drums > Whipping Post Jam (Allman Brothers Band)
Encore: The Feeling Music Brings (Susan Tedeschi)
Setlist: Tedeschi Trucks | Westville Music Bowl | New Haven, CT | 7/7/21
Set One: Anyhow, Don’t Let Me Slide, Down Don’t Bother Me (Derek Trucks Band), Signs, High Times, When Will I Begin, Made Up Mind, Laugh About It, Get What You Deserve (Derek Trucks Band)
Set Two: Bell Bottom Blues (Derek and the Dominos), Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad? (Derek and the Dominos), Key To The Highway (Charles Segar), Looking For Answers (Susan Tedeschi), Little By Little (Junior Wells), Shame, Midnight In Harlem, I Want More > Soul Sacrifice
Encore: Bound For Glory
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