Mule Rule Stone Pony Summer Stage But Not Weather Gods

While I had heard of Gov’t Mule before, my introduction to the band only happened about a year ago when I went to see one of their excellent Dark Side of the Mule Pink Floyd tribute shows. Recently, New Jersey jam rock band Resurrextion invited me to their kickoff yesterday of an evening of music at The Stone Pony to be headlined by Mule. I’ve visited the Asbury Park performance venue many times, but last evening was my inaugural for a summer stage show – and a reminder that outdoor events aren’t immune from inclement weather! 🙂

But first things first. Initially formed in Jersey City in 2006, Resurrextion  started out as a jam rock cover band. After beginning to work on own material, they released their studio debut Comin’ Home in 2013. As the band gained more visibility and opened for national acts like Dickey Betts, Foghat, Poco and Blues Traveler, music increasingly started to interfere with their day jobs and families, so they decided to take a break.

Resurrextion (from left): Phil Ippolito, Johnny Burke, Joey Herr and Lou Perillo

Last year, Resurrextion reunited and have since performed at many Jersey venues in Asbury Park and beyond. In April, they opened for Iron Butterfly at The Wonder Bar. Earlier this month, they played the Stonehenge Music Festival in Pennsylvania. They’re also currently working on a new album while still continuing their daytime jobs, not to mention their family responsibilities. It looks like things are coming together nicely again for this band! The current lineup includes Phil Ippolito (lead vocals, keyboards),  Joey Herr (guitar, vocals), Lou Perillo (bass, vocals) and Johnny Burke (drums, vocals). I’ve known most of the guys for a couple of years.

Here’s Highway, an original tune with a nice southern rock vibe from the aforementioned debut album – my personal favorite!

And here’s another song they wrote, I Know, also from their first record.

On to The Mule. The southern jam rock band was co-founded by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody in 1994 as a side project to The Allman Brothers Band, where at the time they played guitar and bass, respectively. Their eponymous debut album came out in June 1995. They have since released 21 additional albums, including various life records. Their most recent studio album Revolution Come…Revolution Go appeared in June 2017.

Gov’t Mule (from left): Matt Abts, Danny Louis, Jorgen Carlsson and Warren Haynes

The band’s current lineup features Haynes (guitar, lead vocals), Matt Abts (drums), Danny Louis (keyboards, backing vocals) and Jorgen Carlsson (bass). Haynes and Abts are the only original members. Woody passed away in August 2000. Louis joined Mule prior to their sixth studio album Déjà Voodoo from September 2004, while Carlsson has been with the band since 2008. Time for more music!

Here’s Beautifully Broken. Co-written by Haynes and Louis, the tune is from The Deep End, Volume 1, Mule’s fourth studio album released in October 2001.

Next up: I’m A Ram, the opener from Mule’s eighth studio album Mighty High from October 2007. The song was co-written by Al Green and Mabon Hodges and first appeared on Green’s 1971 studio album Al Green Gets Next To You. I dig the combination between rock and reggae on this one, though I guess I would have been okay, had the band stuck to the already mighty 7:41-minute studio version rather than stretching the track even further to more than 9 minutes. Note to self: When seeing another jam rock band, bring a friggin’ tripod!

Following a 20-minute intermission, Mule opened their second set with my personal highlight of the night: Stone Cold Rage. It’s the opener from the Revolution Come…Revolution Go album and another Haynes/Louis co-write.

After one more tune, Kind Of Birth, a Stone Pony official walked up on stage and told something in Haynes’ ear. And before people knew it, Haynes told the crowd there was lightening close by, and the concert needed to be interrupted. Immediately thereafter, security cleared the outdoor area and directed everybody inside the Pony where another band was playing. Minutes later, rain came down heavily.  While the downpour only lasted about 20 to 25 minutes, Mule did not resume their show.

It certainly was a less than ideal ending of the evening, and based on Facebook comments, some folks were pretty pissed about how the situation was handled. My guess is the primary culprit were local noise ordinances, which probably prevented the band from resuming the concert after the rain had stopped – or at least would not have allowed them to complete their second set. One also wonders whether the weather situation could have been monitored more closely and Mule could have skipped their break to play more music. In fairness, I will add it was pretty hot, at least when they started their first set, so one can defend taking a break after playing some 45 to 60 minutes.

Here’s last night’s set list:

Set 1:
– Hammer & Nails
– Rocking Horse
– Game Face
– Mountain Jam
– Game Face
– Beautifully Broken
– Birth Of The Mule
– I’m A Ram
– Broke Down On The Brazos
– Tributary Jam

Set 2:
– Stone Cold Rage
– Kind Of Bird with Les Brers In A Minor tease

Overall, I thought Mule’s musicianship was outstanding. Haynes undoubtedly is a kickass guitarist and a pretty capable vocalist. The other standout to me, and I’m of course completely unbiased here, was Carlsson who really killed it on bass. 🙂 To be clear, Abts and Louis were excellent as well. Perhaps my one point of criticism is the jam aspect, which at times felt a bit overwhelming to me, with songs frequently exceeding seven or eight minutes in length. Yes, you might say, long tracks and instrumental parts are kind of the essence of jam music, and I understand that. I still would have preferred a bit more of a mix between longer and shorter pieces.

Mule continues their current tour tonight at the Smoky Run Music Festival in Butler, Ohio. This is followed by a series of dates in North Carolina, including Asheville (Jul 3), Charlotte (Jul 5), Greensboro (Jul 6) and Manteo (Jul 7). Then it’s on to Charlottesville, Va. (Jul 10) and Baltimore (Jul 11). The full schedule is, well, jam-packed and available here.

Sources: Wikipedia, Gov’t Mule website, YouTube