Date: Fri 02-Jul-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: REV

Quick Words:

Meadows-Allman-Rev-Trucks

Full Text:

CONCERT REVIEW: The Allman Brothers Band At The Meadows: A Return To Better

Days

BY REV DiCERTO

HARTFORD -- The Allman Brothers Band rolled into Hartford's Meadows Music

Theatre on Sunday, June 27. This tour marks the 30th anniversary of the

release of their first album, The Allman Brothers Band .

The band was formed in 1969 by guitarist Duane Allman, who had already

attained notoriety as a session guitarist. Duane's brother, vocalist and

organist Gregg Allman, joined the band, along with guitarist Dickey Betts,

bassist Barry Oakley, and drummers Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson, now

known as Jaimoe. Explosive performances featuring extended improvisational

jams, soulful blues and screaming guitars made the band an instant success,

and near-constant touring became a way of life.

Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971 before completion of

the band's third album, Eat a Peach ; practically a year to the day later,

Barry Oakley was also dead. But with tenacity and drive, the band continued on

through the 70s, releasing several fine albums and continuing their tradition

of breathtaking live performances and long tours.

The crowd Sunday night was smaller than the one that turned out last year on

June 21; perhaps this was due to last year's relatively lukewarm performance.

Guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody, who had helped elevate the

band's performances to blistering new heights from about 1990 through 1996,

had departed to pursue their side project, a power trio by the name of

Government Mule, full time. For a year or so, it seemed that the Allmans'

energy had lagged in the wake of Haynes and Woody's departure.

New to the band this year, however, is Derek Trucks, son of Butch Trucks, one

of the four remaining original members of the band. There has been

considerable buzz about the 19-year-old guitarist who recently stepped in to

fill the slide and lead guitar shoes most noticeably vacated by Warren Haynes

and, nearly 28 years ago, Duane Allman himself.

The young Trucks did not disappoint; while he is yet to reach the level of

virtuosity of Warren Haynes or Duane Allman, his performance was liberally

sprinkled with moments of brilliance and intensity. The rest of the band

seemed to feed off of this intensity; Dickey Betts, still looking slightly

awkward behind a Fender Stratocaster (his prized 1959 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop,

"Goldie," had to be retired a few years ago), played with an authority that

far exceeded that of his 1998 Meadows performance, hearkening back more to the

all-out assault of the Warren Haynes days of 1995 or 1996.

The two drummers and percussionist Marc Quinones bristled with energy

throughout the entire three-hour concert, presenting an extended group drum

solo at one point the likes of which has not been heard in perhaps four years.

Bassist Oteil Burbridge, Allen Woody's replacement, delivered an even

performance, as always. His bass solo with vocal self-accompaniment was

excellent.

If anything was to be found lacking in the show, perhaps it was the

conspicuously small number of songs sung by Gregg Allman. Vintage Allman

Brothers Band music was split vocally by far in Allman's favor. Sunday's

performance, however, saw him singing only seven songs to Dickey Betts' five,

with several instrumentals interspersed. Allman also has seemed more reluctant

in the past four years to play organ solos.

The concert included a fair number of relatively recent Allman Brothers Band

songs, along with an assortment of classics including "Jessica," "Dreams,"

"Blue Sky," "Ain't Wastin' Time No More" and "Melissa." They also performed a

new song written by Dickey Betts, the as-yet unreleased "The Good Time."

The crowd was an interesting mix. In the ten years or so I have been seeing

them, the band's draw has seemed to grow increasingly broad. No longer is an

Allman Brothers Band show the place to go to see only bikers and grizzled

southern rock fans. The bikers remain; at any Allman Brothers show, there are

likely to be rows of Harley Davidsons lined up outside the gate. Greatful Dead

fans have always loved the Allmans; however, since the death of Jerry Garcia

of the Greatful Dead, there has been an increasing number of displaced

deadheads infiltrating the Allman Brothers crowd, wearing colorful tie-dyes

and skirts and dancing in the aisles or on the lawn. And there are people from

all other walks of life as well, from "blue collar" types to lawyers, young

and old, original fans from 1969 and first-timers young enough to be strapped

to Daddy's back. Every one of them cheered; different as they were, they were

one in their love of this timeless band, this eternal music.

The band's 1971 live release, "Live at the Fillmore East," has often been

referred to as one of the finest live recordings ever made. If that

performance is scored as a perfect "10," then this reviewer would say that in

the mid 1990s, with Warren Haynes and Allen Woody, the band scored "8s"

through "11s." Last year's Meadows performance may have been a "6" or a "7";

but this band is here to stay, and on Sunday they scored an "8" or "9."

It will be good to see what new heights they will achieve as Derek Trucks

gains some of the mileage that can only make a strong performance stronger and

bring him closer to the level of these mighty 30-year, never-tired veterans of

the road.