Music Review: Govt Mule – Dark Side of the Mule

                I am not a huge Pink Floyd fan, never have been.  I like the classics, sure, but the deep cuts just don’t do it for me.  I am, however, a huuuuge Govt Mule fan.  They may be one of my favorite bands of all time.  A couple years ago, they put out a CD where they covered Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, and it was awesome, and Warren Haynes and company rarely ever disappoint on a live album (though their studio albums can be hit and miss) so I knew I had to pick this up. 

                While the source material is not my cup of tea, I have heard the entire Dark Side of the Moon album, and from what I remember, this is a great replica of that.  As with every Govt. Mule experience, the guitar work is as good as you could ever ask while the vocals fit perfectly.  I could listen to Warren Haynes sing me the musical version of Mein Kampf and be soothed to sleep.  My favorite tracks are the classics though, which Govt Mule performs to perfection.  “Comfortably Numb”, “Wish You Were Here” and “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” (Parts 1-9) are great songs in their own right and translate incredibly to the Jam Band style that Govt Mule has perfected. 

                The rest of the band is exactly what you would expect as well, quality music from accomplished musicians that work to highlight Haynes’ signature sound.  The band doesn’t miss a beat in the different style and sound that Pink Floyd is to theirs and if Warren gave up the vocal duties, you might even think you were at a Pink Floyd show. 

All in all, Govt Mule has made Dark Side of the Moon their own while sticking closely to the source material.  It’s a great album to add to the concert playlist of the band and an album that my Pink Floyd loving father (and anyone that is a fan of either band) will most certainly enjoy.

New Music Review: Govt Mule – Shout!

                The last few albums, Govt Mule has fallen into the trap of a really solid opening half that tends to fade away during the second half of the album.  They still remain one of the best live bands you will ever see and Warren Haynes is undoubtedly one of the best guitarists to ever play, so picking up the new album, Shout! was a no-brainer.  While this album was a little more even and not so top-heavy, it definitely adds to the recent tradition of good, not great albums from Warren Haynes and company.   

                The technical precision of the musicians is not lost on me at all in regards to this album.  The songs are very well done, in terms of both the lyrics and the music itself.  They seem to fit very nicely into the pantheon of good work that Govt Mule has put out over its history.  Whereas some bands can change throughout their tenure and that is effectively marked in their discography, Govt Mule is nothing but consistent.  I could craft a playlist of Govt Mule tracks dating back to their self-titled release from the early 90s and, aside from recording quality, you would probably not be able to tell which album or era the music came from.  Not only that, but Govt Mule carries that consistency over to their live shows with amazing regularity. 

                That being said, that consistency leads to some less than stellar results.  Sure, the album is good.  Aside from the reggae-infused Mighty High there isn’t an album in the Govt Mule catalog that is anything but good.  Maybe if I listen to it a bit more some real standouts will emerge, but at this point, an album like Deja Voodoo, not to mention the self titled debut are the standard bearers.  They are full of tracks that can be described as seminal Mule tracks.  I could see a few of these being worked into the live sets (in fact I first heard “No Reward” at the show in Rochester last summer) but it may be more of a shoe-horning process for the sake of promoting the album as opposed to a natural thing. 

                One of the big selling points for this disc is actually the second disc.  The second disc is basically the first disc repeated, just with different singers on the original songs.  Think of Slash’s self-titled album from a few years ago.  The thing here is that we get to listen to the tracks in their original iteration on disc one, then see what a different vocalist does with the same material.  Predictably, some of the songs are better and some are worse, but most toe the line of just as good as the originals.  I’ve always been a huge fan of Warren Haynes as a singer, thinking that his voice is expertly suited for the kind of music the band plays.  While I will not renege on that view, I will say that the different “flavors” that those other vocalists bring to the Govt Mule music is a welcome change.  The band doesn’t stray too far out of its comfort zone in terms of choosing vocalists, but they all add a little something that Haynes doesn’t. 

                In short, if you like Govt Mule, or the blues/jam band type of music in general, this is an album you want to have in your library.  The songs are not the best in the band’s catalog, but it’s new Mule music and honestly, that’s better than nothing.  The bonus disc is just icing on the cake.

Good Food, Good Music, Stupid People; What More Could You Ask For?

-Matt Magill

It’s not very often that I get to see a free concert, and especially one that features a band I have followed for years and would gladly pay money to see.  That is why, when Nik mentioned to me that Govt. Mule was coming to the Rochester Jazz Fest, and it was a free concert, I jumped at the opportunity.  Knowing that my father is a fan of the band as well I asked him to come along as he missed the Mule concert that  I attended in 2006.  Before the show, which started at nine in the evening, we decided to head to Sticky Lips, a local Rochester barbecue joint.

There are two Sticky Lips locations in Rochester, and you owe it to yourself to get there and get there today.  I have had barbecue in many places, and in many highly touted barbecue restaurants and this is by far the best I have ever had.  Even the critically acclaimed Dinosaur Barbecue cannot hold a candle to the quality on the Sticky Lips plate.  The atmosphere is great as well and the appeal was only heightened with our being ushered to the upstairs open-air patio.  If you are going to eat barbecue, it should be a rule that you have to eat it out in the sunshine. 

The drinks that they served were adequate.  I got a glass of their Sangria (as I cannot drink beer) which was decent but not as strong as I would have liked.  My father got a Golden Monkey beer which he enjoyed quite a bit (he and Nik share a love for craft brews) and even with its higher alcohol content, it proved to be a solid accompaniment to the meal.

 Ah, the meal.  First of all, if it is your first time at Sticky Lips, let me warn you, their menu is huge.  I am generally turned off by restaurants with huge menus as it automatically makes me think that they do a bunch of things adequately but nothing well.  Not only is this not the case for Sticky Lips, but they also provide what can only be described as “sample platters” of their mouthwatering barbecue.  All are reasonably priced and come with two sides (get the cheddar chorizo grits) and a slice of cornbread (some of the best I have ever had) along with your meat selection.  Each plate has a different selection of meat so, for instance if pulled pork is not your thing, you can get the plate that has the chicken, etc. etc.  This makes for a well rounded and downright unforgettable dining experience, especially for first-timers that have yet experienced what the restaurant has to offer. 

I cannot recommend a restaurant any higher than this.  Once you try it you will definitely be planning your return visit.

After we finished our meal we made it over to the concert area, which involved parking relatively far away and walking quite a few blocks.  Though Rochester is a fairly large city and everything seemed to be concentrated within the few blocks that housed multiple stages and vendor stands, it never seemed overly crowded until we actually got to the stage that Govt. Mule was playing on (over by the Appellate Division courthouse for those keeping score at home). 

This concert affirmed two things for me.  1) If you like jam bands in the vein of the Allman Brothers Band, Govt. Mule is possibly one of the best live bands you can see, and 2) most people are douchebags.

Let me expand upon point number one first.  I realize that this music is not for everyone, Nik and Raven left about halfway through, which is actually longer than I anticipated that they would stay.  Each song is at least six to seven minutes long with a section in the middle where Warren Haynes just goes nuts on his guitar.  I love that, some other people, not so much.  The best part of the night though was their 25 minute rendition of their hit Mule that featured bits of George Thoroughgood’s Who do you love and Led Zepplin’s  Whole Lotta Love among other bits and pieces.  The crowd went nuts at the inclusion of a Zepplin tune and with good reason.  The whole song was seamless from one note to the next regardless of the different songs and artists that they incorporated.  I would suggest going out of your way to see a Govt. Mule show if you enjoy exemplary guitar work and probably the tightest group of musicians that I have ever seen.  They are currently on tour in Europe, but you don’t have to wait for them to come back to hear some live Mule.  They have multiple concert albums out as well as the tapes from many of their shows.  Just head over to www.mule.net and click on the mule tracks tab to start downloading.  Hell, you can even download Saturdays concert already to see for yourself.

Now on to point number two.  I know that people suck in general, and that the higher concentration of people that you have, the more suck that you are going to get.  That being said, a good portion of the people at the Govt. Mule show, whether they were drunk or high or had sun poisoning from being outside all day just plain sucked.  A lot of the individuals were enjoying the music and minding their own business, but as is bound to happen when a show is general admission, there were a few bad apples that mixed in.  By mixing in, I do mean that they got a little too close for comfort with their dancing (yup, I’m looking at you frat boy to my right that couldn’t help but yell to all your buddies about how you got a new guitar while practically grinding against me), their stupid conversations (really guy behind me, you choose now to tell your buddy about something you saw on the second season of Louie that you just watched on Netflix?  Go fuck yourself), or their cuddling (that’s right guy in front that just stepped in front of me with his girlfriend, apologized, but stayed there anyway and decided to nuzzle her neck and grab her ass the rest of the night).  This is just the people around me, mind you.  This did not even take into account the guy a few rows ahead of us that was probably old enough to be my father, who was drink a mysterious bright green liquid out of a gallon milk jug (seriously, this shit was the same color as the ooze in the Ninja Turtle movies, while throwing up various hand signals and (I’m assuming) trying to high-five the don’t walk sign across the street as he kept throwing his hand up in that direction.

Luckily I do not get out much, for this very reason, and I therefore do not have to worry about dealing with these people.  Luckily the concert was good enough that it out-weighed the negative experience of the people around me.