Gov't Mule--Cain's Ballroom, Tulsa

Sorry it has been so long since I wrote last, I was bogged down with finals and such. Well, the Wednesday before finals (5/2) Trevor (friend and next-door neighbor from OU) and I drove out to Tulsa to catch Gov't Mule's only show in Oklahoma. We arrived at about 7:20 PM and waited around outside till the doors opened up at 8 PM. There was hardly anyone in the ballroom when we went in so we got pretty fantastic spots on the floor. Before the show, I looked on the Cain's Ballroom website (link) and found out it was "college student night" or something like that and the band was gonna hand out a bag of free goodies if you presented a college ID. So, I went to the merchandise table and picked up my bag of goodies which included a Gov't Mule Koozie, Pen, and Post-it notes!! Here's a picture of the stuff:


Trevor decided to wait till the end of the show to get his bag, but unfortunately they ran out of stuff. However, he did get one of the drummer's, Matt Abts, drumsticks. So after I got my stuff, we watched as the ballroom filled up and waited until the band was ready to go. Finally about about 9:15 PM the band came out and starting to jam. This was my first concert experience ever so it was pretty amazing. Since we were so close to the stage I was about 6 feet away from the famous Warren Haynes. Here is the link to the wiki on Warren Haynes. I was able to take some great pictures of the show because I was so close to the stage:

Warren Haynes

Matt Abts

Andy Hess

Danny Louis

This was an awesome show and even with this being my first show I could tell it was pretty awesome. To those people who are concert veterans, I'm sure this show would have blown you out of the water, it was that good. All of this "new" music that I have been listening to lately has been pretty awesome as well. The Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead and Gov't Mule are all spectacular performers and it is easy to hear in any of their live recordings. If you want any of their stuff live, it's free and I can point you in the right direction. We ended up getting back to the dorm at about 2:30AM but it was well worth it, I'm just now catching back up with sleep because the night after this concert I went and saw the premiere of Spiderman 3, which is pretty good btw--go see it. I leave with some more of my favorite pictures from the show, if you want to see anymore, just post a comment or whatever and I'll get them too you.

-Jamie

New found music

Recently, a friend of mine, Trevor, has led me to a new genre of music. A genre of jam sessions, kickin' guitar solos, and a medley of all great musicians. It started with the Allman Brothers Band, then it led to Gov't Mule, and now I'm hooked on the Grateful Dead. I am by no means a Deadhead but they're music is just so awesome. For some of you, this music may be old stuff but it is very new to me and I think it is just awesome.

The style of this music is just so laid back and easy goin', all you can do is sit back and enjoy the passion these guys put in their music. At the top of this page is a link to some video clips of a few of the Allman Brothers Band songs. The first album that my friend gave me was entitled "At Fillmore East" and he said the reason he lent me it was because it is considered the 'godfather' of all live shows. At first I was a little skeptical, but after listening to it I have to agree that it is a pretty great album. The most impressive song on this album is called "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" which is a 13 minute long jazz fest with an extended guitar solo by the famous Duane Allman that brought comparisons to famous tenor sax player John Coltrane. You can listen to this song for free here. Not only does this song feature an amazing solo by Duane but some masterful writing by Dickey Betts, especially the transition at around 2:30 into the song. For the last week this has been all I have listened to because it is pretty amazing. Go ahead, give it a try. It is definitely worth listening to.

Gov't Mule started out as a side project for the Allman Brothers Band but it soon took a life of its own. It is a jam band that fuses music from all genres into one big package. Gov't Mule fuses rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, and many other types of music to create a relaxed but passionate style of music. My friend lent me a CD of theirs entitled "The Deepest End, Live in Concert" and features many of their famous songs along with famous guest such as Bela Fleck and the Dirty Dozen brass band. Great stuff. Here is some more info on Gov't Mule.

The last group I mentioned was the Grateful Dead. They formed in 1965 as one of the first jam bands and are considered one of "the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world." The genre of music that this group created had never been heard before and this unique style of music has led to their popularity. Fanatic fans that followed the band around began to become known as Deadheads. When the Grateful Dead formed, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones had already been around, so their music had to differ from anything anyone had ever heard. The rich mixture of blues, folk, rock, and more gained interest in the music industry. This new style of music stayed popular for 40 years as the band toured from 1965 to 1995. The band broke up in 1995 after famous guitarist, Jerry Garcia, died of health problems. However, the legend of "The Dead" lives on in a group entitled Dark Star Orchestra. Formed in 1997, DSO was formed as a tribute band for The Dead and performs shows exactly as the original band, therein recreating history. The Dead will remain immortalized in history forever but if you've never heard their music I highly recommend listening to something right away. Info on The Dead and DSO.

-Jamie