Tig
Valar Morghulis
To put it mildly, this was a great concert. We had great second row seats in the left balcony in the House of Blues. Too bad fans of soul and R&B haven't discovered this rendition of Warren Haynes, because this was some serious stuff! There were times you'd think it was an all black band up there if you closed your eyes.
There wasn't a weak link in his touring band, which was very tight and in the pocket. Warren had some great impressive solos, but also knew when to play for the song. He certainly didn't want to hog the limelight, either, giving huge solo time to his sax player (Ron Holloway), as well as the rest of the band and the backup singer. Keyboards were excellent (Danny Louis), drums were beyond incredible (Terrence Higgins), bass was solid and funky (Ron Johnstone), and the tenor saxophone was among the best I've ever heard, and I've seen most of the greatest jazz saxophone players growing up. They played several songs from Man In Motion, as well as a few favorite Gov't Mule classics.
He used a natural flamed ES-335 with the old red '61 ES-335 as a backup. The new album's soulful songs provided plenty of wah pedal action, with an occasional envelope filter. He split his signal to a PRS Dallas head/2x12 cab and a Ceasar Diaz CD-100 prototype amp to a second PRS 2x12 cab. Of all the gear I've heard him use, I think his tone is the best ever with this combination. Lead tones were warm, creamy, yet soaring. Clean tones were beautiful and melodic. Of course, he could play an ironing board with a rubber band across it and make it sound good!
He is also a rather humble musician, a bit shy yet grateful for the cheering audience.
The new backup singer sounds much better than the studio singer's. She has a rich, powerful voice which hopefully will take her to a solo career in the future.
There wasn't a weak link in his touring band, which was very tight and in the pocket. Warren had some great impressive solos, but also knew when to play for the song. He certainly didn't want to hog the limelight, either, giving huge solo time to his sax player (Ron Holloway), as well as the rest of the band and the backup singer. Keyboards were excellent (Danny Louis), drums were beyond incredible (Terrence Higgins), bass was solid and funky (Ron Johnstone), and the tenor saxophone was among the best I've ever heard, and I've seen most of the greatest jazz saxophone players growing up. They played several songs from Man In Motion, as well as a few favorite Gov't Mule classics.
He used a natural flamed ES-335 with the old red '61 ES-335 as a backup. The new album's soulful songs provided plenty of wah pedal action, with an occasional envelope filter. He split his signal to a PRS Dallas head/2x12 cab and a Ceasar Diaz CD-100 prototype amp to a second PRS 2x12 cab. Of all the gear I've heard him use, I think his tone is the best ever with this combination. Lead tones were warm, creamy, yet soaring. Clean tones were beautiful and melodic. Of course, he could play an ironing board with a rubber band across it and make it sound good!
He is also a rather humble musician, a bit shy yet grateful for the cheering audience.
The new backup singer sounds much better than the studio singer's. She has a rich, powerful voice which hopefully will take her to a solo career in the future.
