Photo by Bradley Strickland via Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Facebook page
Over the weekend, Tedeschi Trucks Band made their way to Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre for marquee shows on Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1, after Susan Tedeschi cancelled a pair of festival stops due to appendix surgery a few weeks earlier. Lukas Nelson opened both nights and the guitarist honored Jerry Garcia on his birthday Saturday by performing “Althea” for the first time with his current solo combo.
The evening’s headliners kicked off Friday’s show with a pair of Sly & the Family Stone favorites, segueing from “You Can Make It If You Try” into “Everyday People.” In addition to their own modern classics and trademark mix of covers, the outfit prominently nodded to Derek Trucks’ time in The Allman Brothers Band, offering up “Come and Go Blues” and “Dreams” as well as a bit of “Mountain Jam” during their original “Pasaquan.”
As luck would have it, The Black Crowes were enjoying a day off in the Denver area between gigs in Riverside, MO and Colorado Springs, CO. And, at the end of their set, TTB invited out their old friend Chris Robinson and his current Black Crowes guitarist Nico Bereciartua for a take on Matthew Moore’s “Space Captain,” which Joe Cocker famously performed on the Mad Dogs & Englishmen live album that TTB paid tribute to at LOCKN’ with Robinson’s help.
The sit ins continued during TTB’s encore, as Robinson and Bereciartua returned with Crowes keyboardist Erik Deutsch and their backup singers Mackenzie Adams and Leslie Grant for “Loving Cup.” (TTB started covering the Rolling Stones gem this year, and Crowes performed the classic a handful of times in the 2000s.) The members of The Black Crowes then remained on stage as the tune moved into Sleepy John Estes’ “Leaving Truck” and Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Volunteered Slavery.”
The surprises continued during Tedeschi Trucks Band’s show the following day. Partway through their set, the ensemble paired the ending portion of “Mountain Jam” with the rest of “Pasaquan,” completing the previous night’s sequence. Trucks also picked up a Play V guitar and utilized it on a cover of Blind Joe Reynolds’ “Outside Woman Blues” while the Allmans tunes continued with “Stand Back.” After Nelson offered “Althea” during his show, TTB honored Garcia the same night with their take on his enduring Robert Hunter collaboration “Sugaree.” Finally, during Tedeschi Trucks Band’s encore, they brought Nelson back to the stage for Derek and the Dominos’ “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?” and a show-closing run through Joe Tex’s “Show Me.”
Tedeschi Trucks Band will perform at Woodinville, WA’s Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery Amphitheatre tomorrow.
