Gov't Mule

I'm writin' this on 10/27/07 around 9:04 p.m. about the Riviera (aka "da Riv") last nite. "Da Riv" had Gov't Mule with The Nocturnals opening sponsoered by MGD and 93fmWXRT. My great friend JLB of RLB spoke the truth with the radio sponsorship should be in question since they almost never play either band on XRT. The Nocturnals were very good. A solid rock act, very professional. The drummer has his own style, the bass player was good, the guitarist had many guitars and :flew" on a couple of songs. The more than pretty lead Nocturnal lead singer played two keyboards, sometimes rockin' guitar & a little of tamborine. The Nocturnals all out jam on the drum kit was uplifting. After a break-Gov't Mule came out (& as usual) came out to rock! Now I've seen Mule many times & am a big fan. Their most recent album is reworked earlier material and B-sides-recreated with a dub feeling. Many people judge Gov't Mule as a "jam band". The Mule does stretch out & blend a bit, but they are all good musicians and keep it fresh a lot of times-so for those reasons many people are fooled into label-n them. I've read that they try to keep track of their songs they play in ech place to keep it fresh for the hardcore. fans (as well) in each tour stop. The music was good. Mule's material is their own so I can only describe the show by their covers. Awesome Bob Marley all instrumental drop ins occured. A great version of Neil Young's Southern Man uplifted the crowd. A surprise cover of Tom Wait's refernces slipped in with Known Karate & Voo Doo Too. Gov't Mule also worked with respect to Soundgarden's (with Pearl Jam flare) of I'm Going Hungry!!! The light show was good. The drum solo was wild.The bass and keyboard moments were very enlightening. The slide work & lead guitar work just kept giving for a great time. I think I can tear away the false jam band label of Gov't Mule with the fact of many hard livin' bikers there. To those who think otherwise-need to rethink-because it's all about the music with the great Gov't Mule.
STAGG