On Saturday June 14, 2025 the Warren Haynes Band stopped into Syracuse, NY and topped off the three day New York State Blues Festival with a jam filled performance. The blues festival brought together a multifarious meeting of music lovers; with rockers, blues aficionados, hippies, and family units gathered together through their shared love of music. After a full day of song featuring stellar spots by Jontavious Willis and Ruthie Foster, Haynes and his group took to the stage at 8:45 PM for a Saturday Night Special. Haynes five piece band is made up of Gov’t Mule bassist Kevin Scott, Grammy award winning drummer Terence Higgins, Greg Osby on saxophone, and Matt Slocum on keyboards. The combination both pliable and lethal as illustrated throughout the evening.

Haynes opened the show with a tasty triad of solo cuts, the first, “Man In Motion,” a proper choice, as Haynes is always a man on the move playing in several musical constructs. “Go Down Swinging,” spotlighted a series of guitar based bodyblows before sliding into the summer night sweetness of ” Life as We Know It,” from the Warren Haynes Band most recent studio offering.

The juicy center of the show burst open with a relentless cover of Tower of Power’s, “What Is Hip,” that was segmented by a steel driving reading of Van Morrison’s, “Ive Been Working.” Seamless segues, shifty soloing, and bountiful serenades’ comprised the duo, highlighted by Greg Osby’s prolifically decorative sax playing. High speed syncopation and close communication were the hallmarks of this jam segment with Slocum punching the clock and cashing out a wash of analog tones from his keyboard rig.

The reason we came, well not the only reason, was to hear Haynes play the blues and he did so splendidly with a performance of John Lee Hooker’s “It’s My Own Fault.” The band laid way back as Haynes, locked in. He deftly switched between pickups on his Les Paul, dialing in the tone, finding the signal, and slicing open the evening air with rotund and serrated electric lines. Climbing the 12 bar rung by rung, Haynes turned Hooker’s classic inside out, culminating in a substantially scrubbed up conclusion that crested several crowd inspired waves.

“River Gonna Rise,” from Haynes 2011 album Man In Motion, was the perfect groove for Ruthie Foster to lend her soulful vocals to. From the dark resignation of Hooker’s blues to the gospel inspired revival of “River Gonna Rise,” Haynes mastered the musical moods of the evening with Foster’s ample assistance.

A welcome cover of Govt Mule’s “Tear Me Down,” was followed by “These Changes,” from Haynes new record Million Voices Whisper setting up an extended concluding jam that encompassed, Govt Mule’s “Banks of the Deep End,” the Allman Brothers Band’s, twirvy “Instrumental Illness,” and the crushing combo of Mule’s “Thorazine Shuffle,” and the Allman Brothers’ “Dreams.”

The entire band contributed a wealth of instrumental madness to this song series through an abundance of attentive musical interrelations. From Slocam’s fuzzy keys, Scott’s busy bottom end, or Higgins’ jazzy interplay, the jamming, both improvised and well framed, expressed a lustrous attitude and a confident gait. The music swelled in tribute but stood stoically in its different dress. Haynes slide playing was regal, stating as fact why he is one of the world’s finest guitarists. The ride was breathless, the interplay oxygen.

After an endless concluding jam, the band gently sent he crowd home and properly closed the festival with an expected but welcome reading of “Soulshine.” A Haynes composition that at this point has become a standard worthy of the Great American Songbook.

The New York State Blues Festival was treated to a splendid central New York day marked by music lovers who came to the State Fairgrounds for good vibes and deep blues. Warren Haynes and his Band delivered both to attendees through their joyous, honest, and virtuosic playing.