Photographs: Courtesy of Tom Burns

Working hard for the people on Labor Day 2025, Gov’t Mule stampeded into Outer Harbor live at Terminal B in Buffalo, NY for a stop on their 30^th anniversary Back in the Saddle Tour.

This is an exciting return to the road for the Mule who last toured in early 2024. The quartet featuring multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis, bassist Kevin Scott, and replacement drummer Terence Higgins, (who is sitting in for founding member Matt Abts) is inspired … leaving no musical path unexplored.

Higgins is already well acquainted with Haynes aesthetic and musical directive as he is also entrenched on the drum throne of the Warren Haynes Band. While the original Gov’t Mule was a sturdy power trio featuring Abts, deceased bassist Allen Woody, and Warren Haynes, the group has always been about collaboration and carrying on against all odds.

The current quartet fervently pays tribute to the 30 years of Mule gone by while focusing firmly on the future, and playing strictly in the moment.

The extended set extravaganza in Buffalo, was a patchwork quilt of Gov’t Mule’s legendary career featuring Haynes penned classics, blues standards, jam covers, and oft -recognizable instrumental interludes.

An appropriately crushing opening set by Canadian legends Big Sugar included much of their stellar 1996 record Hemi-Vision, and was stuffed with big guitar, sticky sweet grooves and was the perfect lead in to the Mule portion of the evening.

Haynes is a legend, a master of his craft and respected curator of rock and blues. While often tagged with the lazy label of jam band, Gov’t Mule, most importantly has fantastic songs. While their instrumental breakdowns expand and contract, there is always a finite group focus and carefully considered destination for these expansive expeditions. It’s all about the songs.

Following a peace sign greeting from Haynes, A euphonic groove was laid down as the band opened with the devastating duo of “Bad Little Doggie,” and “Blind Man in the Dark,” the opening cut off 1995’s Dose album. The band was comfortable and laid back while the playing was bombastic. Haynes has found a kindred spirit in bass player Kevin Scott who has assimilated himself into the Mule through his membership in the Warren Haynes Band. His playing was foundational and full of ethos. While founding member Matt Abts absence looms large, the rhythm section of Higgins and Scott provided the sturdy improvisational prowess needed for while also developing a tightly packed backbeat.

Mule’s set encompassed several highlights from their long career, reimagined yet stunningly familiar. Armed with his Gibson Explorer, Haynes and the band demanded early attention through a shifty and malleable reading of “World Boss,” where Danny Louis morphed the arrangement into squishy and psychedelic forms. It must be said that Louis was the hero of the night with his endlessly creative and welcome exploits.

Haynes Gibson Les Paul came off the rack next. The weighty bottom end of “Game Face,” spotlighted dramatic and suspenseful jamming where the ghosts of Mule past appeared and dissipated into dramatic crescendos. The band summited a full blown “Mountain Jam,” visited Hendrix’s “Third Stone,” and slammed their cards on the table for a return to “Game Face.” A veteran of Gov’t Mule shows since 1996, I muttered out loud, ‘Are you f@cking kidding me?’

After a thorough ride on the “Rocking Horse,” off the Mule’s debut record, a fitting for the shores of Lake Erie version of ‘Banks of the Deep End,” was a prelude to the skunky dub and dirty reading of “Time to Confess,” off of The Deep End Volume 2.

Even at this early juncture, the band had run the gamut of blues, psych, and dub and the set was only half over. If that was not enough, Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson then joined the on-stage collaborative for almost the rest of the set with his bandmates singing and dancing stage right.  Johnson’s angular soling and serrated slide guitar lended a special element to the already stellar on-stage collective.

Johnson first played lap steel for Haynes “Traveling Tune,” before settling in to a huge jam sequence that was opened up with “Hattiesburg Hustle.”

A thick 15 minute exploration of the Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street,” followed and dissolved into a spectacular reading of Jeff Beck’s “Freeway Jam,” where Louis pulled a musical tablecloth trick pulling the bottom of the arrangement away while leaving the two guitarists to explore all the nuance of Beck’s composition. Both Johnson and Haynes played with a rhythmic elegance and melodic respect. Every note a celebration whether played solo or in glorious harmony.

Introduced as “Mule Sugar,” the group played an extended reading of Al Green’s “I’m a Ram,” a standard of Mule sets and a song that Gordie Johnson and Big Sugar have recorded as well. The groove pulsed between reggae and rage and breathed at all the right times. The music all at once uncontrolled, organic, and brimming with bravura.

If that wasn’t enough the Mule remained for a set closing “Thorazine Shuffle,” and the perfect summer evening send off, “Soulshine.”

After 30 years of being in the pocket, its business as usual and satisfaction guaranteed for attendees of a Gov’t Mule performance.  An incredible evening of multifarious genre smashing mastery. While some listeners may require a few more bells and whistles, this performance was music played by, and for music lovers. These are the types of shows that we’ll talk about when were older and feel lucky enough to have attended. It’s not hyperbolic to say that Warren Haynes is the hardest working man in music and by that note that Gov’t Mule the best live band in the business.

09/01/2025 – Outer Harbor Live @ Terminal B – Buffalo, NY

One Set:

Bad Little Doggie

Blind Man In the Dark

World Boss

Game Face >

Mountain Jam >

Game Face

Mule

Rocking Horse

Captured

Banks Of The Deep End

Time To Confess

Traveling Tune (w/Gordie Johnson)

Hattiesburg Hustle (w/Gordie Johnson)

Shakedown Street (w/Gordie Johnson & The Sugar Cubists) (Come On, Come Over tease)

Freeway Jam (w/Gordie Johnson)

I’m A Ram (w/Gordie Johnson) (Use Me tease)

Thorazine Shuffle

Encore:

Soulshine