Review: Gov’t Mule, O2 Academy

It’s 2016 and there’s a band on stage at the Academy playing a Humble Pie medley (30 Days in the Hole and I Don’t Need No Doctor, since you ask) to a capacity crowd who are singing along. How marvellous is that? This is a rhetorical question. Don’t write in. And yes, I know the latter wasn’t actually written by Humble Pie, but it was popularised by them. So don’t write in about that either.

Earlier, Trenchard Street was so awash with tie-dye that the acid-frazzled might be forgiven for thinking they’d been mystically transported to 1967 Haight-Ashbury. Every old hippy in town, and many from much further afield, had turned out for this one, along with an impressively large number of young hippies.

So what’s the appeal? Gov’t Mule are so far removed from what’s deemed to be ‘relevant’ or ‘hip’ in this modern age that they might as well be operating in a different universe. Hell, even their roadies look as though they’ve been on tour with the Dead without a break since 1965. The deal is that you never get the same set twice; they play for hours (and hours) with plenty of jamming, digressions and mutated cover versions; and frontman/Allman brothers guitarist Warren Haynes only reluctantly writes a set list just before going on stage, rather than simply winging it, so that his tech knows which guitars to hand him.

It’s all about the music with the Mule. So there’s no great light show or grand entrance: just an illuminated backdrop (‘Kicking ass for 20 years’) and four guys who are so locked in musically that you’d swear they were telepathic. They ease in slowly with Robert Johnson’s 32-20 Blues, Haynes announcing that they plan to ‘play a bit of everything’ tonight. And since there’s an early curfew, they intend to forego their usual break and carry on for the best part of three hours – the proverbial walk in the park by their standards. Consequently, the set might seem a little safe to US audiences, but it’s perfectly well judged for Brits who mostly haven’t had a chance to see them before.

Considering that there’s no planning involved, what might otherwise be referred to as ‘set one’ proves perfectly paced, with a thrilling Forsaken Saviour from Shout being an early highlight. Lesser jam bands tend to plod and meander aimlessly, but the Mule positively skip along thanks to the downright funky rhythm section of Mike Abts and Jorgen Carlsson, while Haynes keeps everything on track with his sublime, fluid guitar playing and soulful vocals. Occasionally, it feels like sitting a classic rock exam as we struggle to spot all the musical references. Shame on me for not recognising the jazzy thing (Weather Report?) that Haynes drops into Game Face, which induces paroxysms of joy among those in the know.

Keyboard player Danny Louis teases us with a long intro to the Allmans’ joyful Soulshine, with a detour into Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey, which brings the set to a close. “Here’s set two,” smirks Haynes, barely pausing for breath as he kicks things up a notch tempo-wise with Funny Little Tragedy, demonstrating that the Mule can be concise when they set their minds to it. A head of steam continues to build up with Bad Little Doggy before that familiar loping bass intro signals the arrival of How Many More Years by Led Z…, er, I mean Howlin’ Wolf. They conclude with a barnstorming Mule from the first studio album, which answers all those “Where does the name come from?” questions.

With the clock against them, the quartet make a swift return for the encore. “We’ve done a lot of rockin’, so here’s one for the ladies,” remarks Haynes, old-school gent that he is, introducing an absolutely magnificent Beautifully Broken, complete with snippet from When Doves Cry. (For the record, they’ve been playing it this way for years, long before that funny little purple fella croaked.) Then – huge hurrah! – they squeeze in Railroad Boy, the heartbreaking stand-out narrative song of love and suicide from By a Thread. Final score: great first set, fantastic second one. Let’s hope they’re sufficiently encouraged by the enthusiastic response to this rare venture into the regions that they’ll make a return visit on the next tour.

All pix by John Morgan