Last Friday and Saturday night, new Allman Brothers Band tribute act Trouble No More took over the famed Beacon Theatre for its auspicious debut.
Although it takes a step away from the direct Allman Brothers Band bloodline, the new outfit features an inter-generational mix of the band’s descendants, collaborators, proteges, and extended “family” members including Brandon “Taz” Niederauer (guitar/vocals), Dylan Niederauer (bass), Daniel Donato (guitar/vocals), Jack Ryan (drums), Nikki Glaspie (drums), Lamar Williams Jr. (vocals), Peter Levin (keys), and Roosevelt Collier (pedal steel guitar).
The new ensemble carries the ABB legacy down the road to forever with more than just its name. Dense layers of Allman Brothers synergy are woven into Trouble No More, from the notable anniversaries (the weekend celebrated both 50 years of Eat a Peach and 53 years since the day the ABB was born) to the meaningful venue to the members’ intertwined histories.
Roosevelt Collier brought towering authority to Duane Allman‘s slide parts on the pedal steel, while Taz colored outside the lines to thrilling effect on Skydog’s famous lead riffs. Across the stage Donato seemed to bring subtle notes of Michael Houser to his interpretations of Dickey Betts, surely winning over a new wave of fans in the process, while Dylan Niederauer showed off mountains of still-untapped potential on the bass. Behind them, the fearsome drumming duo of Nikki Glaspie (The Nth Power, etc.) and Jack Ryan (The Marcus King Band, The Shady Recruits) packed a rumble that would have made Butch Trucks proud, while veteran Gregg Allman sideman Peter Levin quietly presided over the proceedings from behind his organ.
The setlists weaved through most of Eat A Peach and the rest of the ABB’s early songbook, with a handful of audibles and switch-ups keeping the festivities fresh each night. Though reverent to the material and its creators, the talented players all found their spots to elaborate in creative ways, with many of the brightest spots courtesy of genuine moments of connection—Nikki and Jack impressing each other on a “Drums” segment, the Niederauer brothers facing off for a white-hot peak during a mammoth Friday night “Mountain Jam”, the tear-jerking, three-guitar rendering of “Little Martha”, Taz putting some extra emphasis on “Melissa” line “freight train, each car looks the same” in a subtle homage to Butch.
After a strong showing in its first-ever show, the ensemble wound up in a particularly telling “Whipping Post” to close set two on Friday. Riding high on the intensity of an explosive “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”, the band dove into the climactic number just a little bit too fast. You could see the realization of the accelerated tempo move from Levin at stage right over to the Niederauers and Collier at stage left, and the band eventually found its groove, but the rendition still carried that weight to the end—as if everyone onstage could hear their ABB mentors chastising them from the beyond: This isn’t a song to race through. This is a song to feel.
On Saturday night, following an even stronger show, Brandon “Taz” Niederauer led Trouble No More back out onto the Beacon Theatre for the encore and invoked “all the fallen Allman Brothers watching us right now” before counting into “Whipping Post” once again. This time, it was just right.
Trouble No More – “Whipping Post” (Allman Brothers Band) – 3/26/22
[Video: sgibson818]
With the band’s Beacon debut in the rearview, Trouble No More will hit the road for an assortment of performances this spring and summer. Upcoming stops include a New Orleans blowout during Jazz Fest alongside Art Neville/Dr. John tribute Poppa Funk & The Night Tripper at The Fillmore New Orleans on Saturday, May 7th; a show at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville in Nashville, TN on Wednesday, June 1st; a night at Birmingham, AL’s Avondale Brewing Company on June 3rd; a performance at Baldwinsville, NY’s Papermill Island Amphitheater on Wednesday, June 29th; and a homecoming set the Allman Brothers Band-founded The Peach Music Festival in Scranton, PA on Thursday, June 30th.
Keep up with future Trouble No More announcements via the band’s Facebook and Instagram pages. Check out Live For Live Music‘s full feature interview with Brandon and Dylan Niederauer about Trouble No More here. Watch a full video playlist of the Saturday, March 26th Trouble No More performance at the Beacon Theatre here.
Setlist: Trouble No More | Beacon Theatre | New York, NY | 3/25/22
Set One: Ain’t Wastin Time No More, Trouble No More, Stand Back, Les Bres In A Minor, One Way Out, Little Martha, Melissa, Blue Sky, Mountain Jam
Set Two: Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’, Midnight Rider, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed, Whipping Post
Encore: Statesboro Blues
Setlist: Trouble No More | Beacon Theatre | New York, NY | 3/26/22
Set One: Trouble No More, Stand Back, Mountain Jam, Little Martha, Blue Sky, Melissa, Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More, Les Brers In A Minor, One Way Out
Set Two: Don’t Want You No More > It’s Not My Cross To Bear, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed, Done Somebody Wrong, Dreams
Encore: Whipping Post
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