Warren Haynes Band - May 24, 25, 2011 - Ogden Theatre

Warren Haynes

      Apparently, three bands aren't enough. Warren Haynes is already a member of the Allman Brothers, the Dead and the leader of Gov't. Mule. (And that's not counting the myriad bands he sits in with as a guest.) But all this is not enough. Haynes is now on tour with a fourth band: the Warren Haynes Band. This aggregation, it turns out, is an R&B/soul/funk revue with, of course, a heavy Haynesian overlay. The band is touring in support of its recent album, Man in Motion which features the autobiographical title track: "Moving town to town/Band to band/You say someday you're gonna stop/But they keep moving the finish line."

     On a tour that has been stopping only one night in major cities all over the country, the Warren Haynes Band played a two night stand at Denver's Ogden Theater. Yes, that means Denver Haynes fans are luckier than the whole rest of the country (and Europe, for that matter). It also had to have been a challenge for a band that has been together for barely a month and a half. Haynes' work ethic demands concerts that run two and a half hours (generally two 75 minute sets with a 20 to 30 minute intermission). The other aspect of the Haynes work ethic is the demand to play completely different shows when appearing on back to back nights in the same town. In other words, a band together for less than two months must play about five hours of music with no repeats. Why not?

     The band actually repeated two songs: "Man in Motion" and "River's Gonna Rise," happily two of the best songs on the new album. Haynes also played a 20 minute solo acoustic set at the beginning of the second set each night. So that meant the band only had to know about four hours of music. In 6 to 7 weeks. Hey, they're professionals! The band played all but one of the tunes off the new album. The set lists also drew from Haynes' first solo album from 1993, Tales of Ordinary Madness. And, of course, there were plenty of covers. This is Warren Haynes, after all.

     The new album has a significant R&B and soul feel. Those were two early influences on a young Haynes and he's been planning to do an album in that arena for some time. A little funk creeps into a few of the tunes and that was certainly true of the two shows in Denver. Some of the deepest funk came in the form of cover tunes. An early highlight was Tower of Power's "What is Hip?" The original is a tight, horn-driven churner. The Haynes Band version was every bit as tight, but featured a slide guitar solo in the middle with a quote from the Allman Brothers/Mule tune "Rocking Horse." Hybrid vigor. Sonic sweetness. Another one along the same lines was Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" sandwiched in the middle of the new tune, "Take a Bullet."

     Haynes recorded his new album with a collection of mostly New Orleans musicians like George Porter, Jr. and Ivan Neville. For the tour, he assembled another top notch unit with Ron Holloway on tenor sax as the only common denominator. Appearing on only part of the tour, including the two Denver shows was Alfreda Gerald who was a real highlight on vocals. Her gospel-inspired backing and harmony vocals were just what the doctor ordered for the R&B and soul theme Haynes aspires to on this tour. Together with keyboardist Nigel Hall on vocals, she and Haynes put on some three part harmonies; something that is somewhere between rare and nonexistent in Haynes' other bands. Holloway was also sympathetic to the project with his honking, yakkity sax sound straight from 1950s R&B. Ron Johnson's bass and Terrance Higgins' drums were solid, syncopated and driving through all four sets.

     Any band involving Warren Haynes is bound to include some serious jamming and of course the Denver shows saw plenty. Haynes and Holloway had quite a few unison lines worked out, in particular "Invisible" from Haynes first album. Hall, on keyboards sometimes got into the harmony instrumentals. Usually, the unison lines quickly turned into some lick trading, either back and forth between Haynes and Holloway or with Hall or sometimes all three, up and down the line. Gerald got into the act a couple times trading scat lines with Haynes' Gibson guitar licks.

     Haynes' guitar playing continues to be among the best in his genre (actually, several genres). His solo on the down tempo "Blue Radio" silenced an otherwise chatty Ogden crowd with its piercing wails. On another tune from his first album, "I'll Be the One," he channeled Dickie Betts with an homage to the Allmans' "Blue Skies." For the acoustic set on Tuesday night, he was Robert Johnson coaxing anguished country blues from his acoustic guitar.

     Overall, the highlight of the two night stand had to be Wednesday night's second set. The solo acoustic portion included a Mule tune, "Nothing Again," a Van Morrison song, "Into the Mystic" and John Lennon's "Working Class Hero." When the band arrived, the funk moved in like a Midwest tornado. Little Feat's "Sailin' Shoes" was a slow burning bad-ass funk throw down which melded into the infectious classic, "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley." The funk frenzy continued with "Hattiesburg Hustle" from the new album. Any more funk of that intensity clearly would have been life threatening and so, in order to comply with federal safety requirements, the band had to tone it down a bit and did so with the Mule's best ballad, "Beautifully Broken." The poignancy lasted for a grand total of that one song before the band was right back at it for the set closer with a hopped up version of Robert Johnson's "32-20 Blues" which featured an extended rave-up of lick trading all around.

     The first song of the encore was another new one, the gospel inflected "Save Me." For the final tune of the two-night stand, the band pulled out another Little Feat tune, "Spanish Moon." Haynes directed the band during this one; pointing to his head to command the band to play the main riff (the head) and putting his palms down when he wanted the band to soften and set up the backing for a guitar solo. It had the look of song being played for the first or second time, but it had the sound of a tight, well oiled band. The ending even emulated Little Feat's live version from the Waiting for Columbus album with one instrument dropping out at a time. For this version, the last instrument standing was Holloway's tenor sax. He continued to play the distinctive riff after all the other band members were gone. Then he pulled away from the mic and continued to play as he walked across the stage and eventually headed back stage.

Tuesday Night Set List

First Set

Tear Me Down

River's Gonna Rise

Sick of My Shadow

All My Love

What is Hip?

Blue Radio

Roadrunner

On a Real Lonely Night

I'll Be the One

Second Set

Goin' Down Slow

China Doll

It Hurts Me Too 

Watch You Walk Away From Me

I'd Take a Bullet for You>>

I wish>>

I'd Take a Bullet for You

Fire in the Kitchen

Man in Motion

Encore

Frozen Fear

That's What Love Can Make You Do

Second Encore

Broken Promised Land

Wednesday Night Set List

First Set

Man in Motion
River's Gonna Rise
Invisible

Your Wildest Dreams
A Friend to You
Power and the Glory
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Baby Love

Soulshine >>
Tupelo Honey>>
Soulshine
Second Set

Patchwork Quilt
Nothing Again
Into the Mystic

Working Class Hero
Sailin' Shoes
Sneaking Sally Through the Alley
Hattiesburg Hustle

Beautifully Broken
32-20 Blues funk version
Encore
Save Me & Spanish Moon

The Band

Warren Haynes, guitar, vocal

Ron Holloway, sax

Ron Johnson, bass

Alfreda Gerald, vocals

Nigel Hall, keyboards, vocals

Terrance Higgins, drums