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On March 11th, 2014 I was in New York City for what I knew would be my last Allman Brothers run. I believe by this time both Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks had announced they were leaving the band, and anyone who had been following The Allman Brothers could tell you that Gregg Allman’s health was up and down at best. M’lady and I had hummed and hawed on whether or not to go to a few shows on this Beacon run and we figured the only way we could justify going (after all, NYC is pretty expensive) was if we decided that this would be the last time we spent money going to see the Allman Brothers.
So this was the last time. This show and the one after, that is.
And in a surprise twist it was drummer Butch Trucks who was out sick this evening. Good thing there are two other percussion players in the band.
While both concerts were great overall (there’s just no denying the pairing of Warren and Trucks* to elevate any jam experience) I remember at one of these two shows Gregg Allman was on fire and for the other he was pretty much not even there.
(Given that the two nights were back-to-back in a classic venue where my drink of choice is Jack Daniels & Coke and I choose it often you’ll have to excuse me for confusing the two shows.)
When Gregg is on he is one of the greatest blues singers alive, not to mention his fantastic organ playing. My friend Tony D (who knows his way around the blues, thank-you very much) thinks Gregg Allman is among the best blues singers of his generation and I have to agree. However, a lifetime of drinking and drugging has rendered the man inconsistent at best, victim to one physical ailment after another. For these shows he literally kept an oxygen tank at his feet while he sat at the organ, a plastic hose winding up to his nose.
The Allman’s famously ask other artists to join them for their annual run at the beautiful Beacon Theatre and tonight The Juke Horns – a legendary NYC horn section that was previously unknown to me – were sitting in, amping up a half-dozen songs throughout the two sets with endlessly impressive off-the-cuff lines, all called by the lead player through quick hand signals.
And speaking of the beautiful Beacon, the venue itself is part of the attraction. The theatre’s renovated elegance and ornate class is outpaced only by its legacy, and they pour a good strong drink too.
Over the course of this, my second last evening with them, I raised several of said drinks to the sadly not immortal Gregg Allman (1947-2017) and his mighty band of jam royalty.
*Truth be told I’m convinced that Derek Trucks is the real meat behind the pairing but whenever challenged I will easily defer the point and admit that Warren Haynes is certainly worth his due.
Todd Man Out 