Gov't Mule @ The O'Shaughnesy Theatre 10/31

The O'Shaughnessy Theatre, on the campus of St. Cate's University in St. Paul, is a fantastic place to see a show. It's an intimate venue, with room for about 1800 costumed partygoers. I had visited the Theatre at my Mom's alma mater way back in 2001 to see Medeski, Martin and Wood, and remember thinking then that there couldn't be a bad seat in the house. Tonight we were seated in the second row of the balcony, on Warren's Side, and having only seen the Mule outdoors at big festivals, this was really cool to have such a spectacular view of the band. Being able to see Warren crank out those nonstop powerful riffs made me almost immediately think to myself that he is one of the best guitar players I have ever seen. Indeed, it wasn't until right now that I remembered that Rolling Stone named him the 23rd greatest guitar player of all time in 2005. Here's a look at the top 30, just for fun:

1 Jimi Hendrix
2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
11 Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
23 Warren Haynes
24 The Edge of U2
25 Freddy King
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy

*Fun fact-That makes Warren the 2nd highest rated guitar player I've ever seen, behind Jon Friscante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but there were tens of thousands of people between him and I at Lollapalooza 2006.

*Not so fun fact-Jack White's ex wife's anxiety just kept me from seeing him play in Austin.

*Really awesome fun fact-Tom Morello is the only one of the 100 greatest guitarists that I have met.

*Bullshit fun fact-Trey Anastasio, my favorite guitar player of all time from what may quite possibly be my favorite band of all time, is way on down the list at #73, right behind -you guessed it- Joni Mitchell.


On to the show. Mule is a very tight, talented and experienced band. Aside from the aforementioned critical acclaim, Gov't Mule has Matt Abts on drums, who rocked a mean 10-15 minute drum solo mid second set, some of it without drumsticks. Then you have Danny Louis on keyboards, who played with Warren in the Warren Haynes Band, opening for the Allman Brothers Band before there ever was a Gov't Mule. Louis also played with Joe Cocker, and played trumpet for UB40 right when "Red, Red Wine" hit #1 on the charts. Andy Hess, who took over for the original bass player Allen Woody after his untimely death in 2001, has played with the Black Crowes and John Scofield, and recorded with Tina Turner and David Byrne. An impressive collective resume for any band. As if that wasn't enough rock for one stage, joining the Mule for the entirety of the second, "Houses of the Holy" set, was Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed.


First set started off with a cover of The Rolling Stones "Play with Fire", which is on their new album of reggae style remixes of Mule songs and some covers. The heavy rude boy groove continued throughout the set, and an extended, lyrics free "That's it for the Other One" jam was an always welcome touch of #13 on the list, Jerry Garcia. A Zepplin tease during "Blind Man in the Dark" was the only foreshadowing of the incredible second set, which was the entire "Houses of the Holy" album. This was a special Halloween trick and/or treat and/or tribute to #9 on the list, Jimmy Page.


Our encore was "32/20 Blues" and "Come on Into my Kitchen", both by #5 on the list, Robert Johnson.

Here's how it all shook out:


Set 1:
Play With Fire
Time To Confess
Million Miles From Yesterday
Rocking Horse
Birth of The Mule
Larger Than Life
Fallen Down>
Other One Jam
Blind Man In The Dark w/ Zeppelin Medley Tease Jam

Set 2: (Holy Haunted House Set)
w/ Audley Freed on Guitar
The Song Remains The Same
The Rain Song
Over The Hills and Far Away
The Crunge
Dancing Days>
Drums
D'Yer Mak'er
No Quarter
The Ocean

Encore:
Come On Into My Kitchen> w/ Audley Freed on Guitar
32/20 Blues w/ Come On Into My Kitchen Jam w/ Audley Freed on Guitar








Unfortunately, we completely missed the thoroughly enjoyable Grace Potter opening the show. That was really a drag, but nearly making up for that was the after show at the Cabooze with God Johnson and lots of wicked oompa loompa costumes.