Gov’t Mule Delivery Black ‘n’ Blue New Years

Photo via Gov’t Mule Facebook page

Gov’t Mule offered their first New Year’s Eve performance since 2019 last night. The highly anticipated gig took place at New York’s Beacon Theatre, the band’s longtime home venue. Their fittingly titled Black ‘n’ Blue New Years celebration–a nod to both their recent blues LP, Heavy Load Blues and a hard few years–was originally slated to take place in December 2021. That show was postponed due to COVID and their rescheduled April and December 2022 shows were further postponed for health reasons.

The quartet kicked things off with the Revolution Come…Revolution Go number “Traveling Tune” and devoted much of their entire first set to original material. In between, they did honor some influences, however, with The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Third Stone From the Sun,” Wray & His Rayme’s “Rumble” and an instrumental take on the Grateful Dead’s “St. Stephen.”

For their annual thematic New Year’s Eve set, Gov’t Mule offered a marathon performance that alternated between “black” and “blue” songs, showcasing their eclectic tastes and stylistic roots. Fab Faux guitarist and regular Mule New Year’s guest Jimmy Vivino and SNL drummer Shawn Pelton, who sat in with the group during their two previous shows this New Year’s run, augmented the core band throughout the segment. Most of the selections were covers, including: “Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll” (Blue Öyster Cult), “Black Friday” (Steely Dan), “Blue Monday” (Smiley Lewis), “Black” (Pearl Jam), “Black Hole Sun” (Soundgarden), “Fell on Black Days” (Soundgarden), “Black Magic Woman” (Fleetwood Mac), “Bell Bottom Blues” (Derek and the Dominos), a run from “Devil With a Blue Dress On” (Shorty Long cover) into “Good Golly, Miss Molly” (Little Richard), “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” (The Hollies), “Behind Blue Eyes” (The Who) and “Stella Blue” (Grateful Dead).

At midnight, the ensemble moved into the traditional “Auld Lang Syne” and then the celebration continued with “Blue Sky” (The Allman Brothers Band) and “Blue Jean Blues”

(ZZ Top). Gov’t Mule paused the covers briefly to perform their own Dose tune “Raven Black Night” and the new “Black Crow Blues.” Then, things picked up with “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (Bob Dylan), “Stray Cat Blues” (The Rolling Stones), “Paint It Black” (The Rolling Stones), “Baby’s in Black” (The Beatles), “For You Blue” (The Beatles),  “(What Did I Do to Be so) Black and Blue”  (Fats Waller, Andy Razaf & Harry Brooks), “Blue Monk” (Thelonious Monk), “Afro Blue” (Mongo Santamaría), “Black Dog” (Led Zeppelin), “Back in Black” (AC/DC) and the climax of “Hand of Doom” (Black Sabbath) that moved into “H.O.D. Blues.”

For an encore, Gov’t Mule performed Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s classic “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black).” Gov’t Mule are featured on the cover of the current issue of Relix.

Here’s a look at last night’s setlist via Mule’s Facebook page

Sunday, December 31, Beacon Theatre, New York, NY

Set 1:

Traveling Tune

After The Storm

Beautifully Broken

Shake Our Way Out

Painted Silver Light

Trane

Temporary Saint

Same As It Ever Was

Set 2 (“Black ‘n’ Blue New Years” w/ Jimmy Vivino & Shawn Pelton)

Cities On Flame

Black Friday

Blue Monday

Black

Black Hole Sun

Fell On Black Days

Black Magic Woman

Bell Bottom Blues

Devil With The Blue Dress >

Good Golly Miss Molly >

Long Cool Woman

Behind Blues Eyes

Stella Blue > Auld Lang Syne

Blue Sky

Blue Jean Blues

Raven Black Night

Black Crow Blues

It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

Stay Cat Blues

Paint It Black

Baby’s In Black

For You Blue

Black & Blue

Blue Monk

Afro-Blue

Black Dog / Back In Black

Hand Of Doom > H.O.D. Blues

Encore:

Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)