Gov’t Mule brought their ‘Kicking In Your Stall’ Tour to Salt Lake City last night, performing a strong two-set affair at the beautiful Red Butte Gardens including a cover debut and Mule’s signature heavy rock sound throughout.
Warren Haynes greeted the crowd before launching into “Railroad Boy” to kick off the night, utilizing a 12-string electric guitar for some shreddy slide work right off the bat as he vocalized alongside. Mule’s rhythm section was on full display with crystal-clear sound all of last night, with bassist Kevin Scott and drummer Terence Higgins holding down an incredibly forceful pocket.
Scott intro’d “After The Storm” next and continued to dominate with a filthy bass line throughout the song, supporting keyboardist Danny Louis through a strong organ solo. Following up the high energy and loud volume of the first two songs, Haynes slowed things down a bit with “Life Before Insanity,” his chorus-heavy guitar sinking into the molasses-thick groove.
“I’m A Ram” brought in some reggae vibes thanks to Higgins’ delayed drums, Haynes keeping things in a decidedly darker tone through his ripping envelope-filter solo – all while Scott’s deep-impact bass line anchored the space. “Doing it to Death” led into “Game Face” next, where Haynes shone a light on the Allman Brothers side of his career – expertly weaving a partial performance of the iconic “Mountain Jam” within. Louis followed up that section with a nimble Wurlitzer solo, adding an element of jazzy electric piano riffs to the straight-ahead rock vibes.
The sneaky cover insertions continued as “Wang Dang Doodle” appeared inside of “Wake Up Dead,” a thick, blues-shuffle version of the song that’s very different from the Grateful Dead performances I’m used to. The first set wrapped with “Time To Confess,” more reggae vibes only accentuated by the heavy “Get Up Stand Up” teases by Haynes during the jam.
After a quick break, Mule returned to the stage with their second-ever cover of Joe Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way” and its appropriate reference to Utah in the lyrics. Some nice trading between Haynes and Louis ensued before the latter utilized a talkbox on his clavinet, something I’ve never seen before. Keeping with the blues vibe (and possibly inspired by his recent co-headline tour with Joe Bonamassa), a tease of “Going Down” found its way into the jam as well courtesy of Haynes.
The quartet tore into “Sco-Mule” next – my personal highlight of the show. With solos by Louis, Haynes, and then Scott, the jazz fusion vibe was an amazing change of pace for the show at that point. The bass solo in particular stood out – while Scott had been crushing every song up to that point, his spotlight feature really showed what his whirlwind playing and punchy tone could do.
“Gone Too Long” offered a breather of sorts, evoking a bit of Phish’s “Free” at times before the band dipped into a more psychedelic direction with “No Need to Suffer.”
The more improvisational nature of the second set continued with “Rocking Horse,” Scott and Haynes facing each other as the two really dug in on the groove after a great solo drum intro by Higgins. There are certain songs like this that really cements Haynes’ power as both a frontman and a guitarist, as he didn’t miss a beat vocally while taking care of the dominant compositional aspects of the song at the same time.
“The River Only Flows One Way” displayed a hidden part of Mule’s arsenal – Louis on trombone. Not only was it a cool added sound to hear the horn drenched in delay, but the multi-instrumentalist even went so far as to play organ at the same time, something I really can’t believe is possible.
The second set wrapped with “Blind Man in the Dark” and “Mr. Man,” Haynes pouring a ton of energy into his fast-paced solos through an intense breakdown with the rest of the band.
The SLC crowd was still so amped at this point in the night that Mule was encouraged to take a double encore – the moody “Bring On The Music” was followed by “Soulshine,” the “hit” of sorts that always feels like the right conclusion to any Haynes show.
Gov’t Mule wraps their ‘Kicking In Your Stall’ Tour this weekend in Santa Fe and Vail, before a packed fall alongside Ziggy Marley and more. Last night may have been my first time seeing a two-set Mule show, but it certainly won’t be the last.
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