About two months ago I was exposed to the music of Gov't Mule and I absolutely flipped. I couldn't remember the last time I heard a band that good. As a matter of fact, the last time I went this completely head-over-heels for a new band was back in '85, the first time I heard Metallica.

Gov't Mule isn't a new band, but they were new to me when I heard them in August. This really is the best band I've ever heard, and they're basically the only band I've listened to since late August (much to the frustration of my wife and friends, who wonder when I'll stop listening to the Mule exclusively.) Shortly after I got interested in the band I checked their tour agenda for autumn and I was thrilled to find out that they were coming to Richmond, easily within driving distance. Wendy agreed to go see them with me, tickets were bought, and I spent all of September and the first half of October basically unable to think about anything else.

Wendy and I arrived at Toad's Place about an hour before the 7:00 PM door time. The line was pretty packed by 6:30, and an enthusiastic crowd was inside to greet opening act Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at 8:00. The openers played for an hour, and I can report that Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are a real-life, honest-to-goodness band. Real musicians, real songs, good old-fashioned rock and roll. I wish I were more enthusiastic about them, since they're making the kind of music that I think needs to be supported. And I do think that Grace Potter is going to hit the big-time pretty soon. But the truth is, I was in Richmond to see Gov't Mule and sitting through Grace Potter's set was, for me, just a slightly more interesting way to kill an hour than staring at the floor.

Gov't Mule came on at 9:30 and played until somewhere around 12:50. Ah, man, what an amazing show. The first set was like a dream for me ... if the band had let me chose the songs for the first set, I couldn't have customized a better one.

And let me just say that Warren Haynes is a god. The founder of Gov't Mule (and also full-time member of the Allman Brothers Band) is just about the best musician I've ever seen play live. He's a damn good songwriter, a great singer, and an absolutely amazing guitarist. You just can't do any better than Warren Haynes.

Here's the setlist for the night, and I can't wait to buy this show at Muletracks.

Set 1:
Slackjaw Jezebel
Larger Than Life
Don't Step On The Grass Sam (Steppenwolf Cover)
Rocking Horse
Lay Your Burden Down
Mr. High & Mighty
Red House (Hendrix Cover)
Bad Little Doggie
How Many More Years (Howlin' Wolf Cover, with Higher Ground tease)

Set 2:
A Million Miles From Yesterday
Thorazine Shuffle
When Doves Cry (Prince Cover)->
Beautifully Broken->
When Doves Cry->
Beautifully Broken
Pygmy Twylyte (Zappa Cover)->
Trouble Every Day (Zappa Cover)->
Drums
Child Of The Earth
Three String George
32/20 Blues (Robert Johnson Cover)

Encore:
Long Distance Call (Muddy Waters Cover)

You can check out pictures from the show at Gov't Mule's "On The Road" page. And here are a few crappy pics I took with my cellphone.

I'm happy to say that Wendy loved the show, too, and I think she finally gets my obsession with Gov't Mule. In fact, the word Wendy used to describe the first set was "amazing." I couldn't agree more.

If you haven't heard Gov't Mule, here are a few songs you can stream from my site if you'd like to check them out:

And if you get the chance to see them live, don't miss it. I think it's safe to say at this point that Gov't Mule has become my favorite band over the past couple of months, and seeing them this past Sunday only confirmed for me that they really are the best band I've ever heard.

Labels: Gov't Mule, Music