Gov’t Mule are hitting the tail end of their Summer Tour which brought them to Texas on Wednesday night to kick off a three-show run in The Lone Star State. Last night the jam titans were in Austin for a show at ACL Live at The Moody Theater that saw them welcome a pair of guests.
Mule got their night going in the state capital with the pairing of “Bad Little Doggie” and “Blind Man In The Dark.” From there, the quartet delivered “Steppin’ Lightly” from 2009’s By A Thread before offering up back-to-back tunes from High & Mighty: “Unring The Bell” and “Endless Parade.” The band then reached back for the old-school “Thorazine Shuffle” with “Thorns Of Life” from Revolution Come…Revolution Go and “Sco-Mule” bringing their opening frame to a close.
Warren Haynes & Co. looked to Pink Floyd’s songbook to open up their second set of the evening as “One Of These Days” from the psychedelic act’s 1971 release Meddle segued into Mule’s “The Man I Want To Be.” The four-piece then served up a pair of tunes from their early days with “Larger Than Life” and “Painted Silver Light.” “Captured” from 2013’s Shout! followed. Gov’t Mule welcomed their first guest of the night next as Revolution Come … Revolution Go collaborator Gordie Johnson emerged. The Austin-based guitarist, who has played in reggae, Southern rock and latin-jazz bands, first lent a hand on Jeff Beck’s “Freeway Jam.” The ad-hoc ensemble then closed out the stanza with Al Green’s “I’m A Ram” which saw the band work in a tease of Toots & The Maytals’ “54-46 Was My Number.”
The rock and blues act ended the night with an extended three-song encore that saw them stitch together Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey” with longtime fan-favorite “Soulshine.” Mule had one more surprise up their sleeves as they brought out Eric McFadden next. With the guitarist in tow, the band dug in on a cover of Tom Waits’ “Get Behind The Mule” to bring things to end.
Setlist (via Gov’t Mule/Facebook)
Set I: Bad Little Doggie > Blind Man In The Dark, Steppin’ Lightly, Unring The Bell, Endless Parade, Thorazine Shuffle, Thorns Of Life, Sco-Mule
Set II: One Of These Days > The Man I Want To Be, Larger Than Life, Painted Silver Light, Captured, Freeway Jam*, I’m A Ram*
Encore: Tupelo Honey > Soulshine, Get Behind The Mule** with Eric McFadden
* w. Gordie Johnson, ** w. Eric McFadden
