Thursday, December 12, 2019

ALLMAN FAMILY REVIVAL - DENVER

ALLMAN FAMILY REVIVAL - December 8, 2019 Mission Ballroom, Denver, CO


Devon Allman, Duane Betts, and Berry Oakley, Jr. are doing a fine job carrying on their collective family legacies.  For three nights only - one each in San Francisco, Denver, and New York - they upped the ante and invited all their rowdy friends to sit in and play their favorite Allman Brothers Band songs.

Unfortunately, they did not do a great job of consistently announcing said special guests, but I definitely managed to identify Big Head Todd, Eric Krasno, Eric McFadden, Luther Dickinson, Robert Randolph, and Robin Zander.  Sometimes there were as many as five guitarists onstage, and often three drummers / percussionists.  The wall of sound they collectively put forth was intense, and of course rang my nostalgia bell more than once.

The Mission Ballroom's reputation preceded our arrival, with legions of heads happily proclaiming it "one of the best venues in the country."  I wonder if they are all just parroting what "everybody says" about the venue because, honestly, I rate it as on par with Denver's Live Nation-owned Fillmore Auditorium (which we had visited the night before to see Lettuce and Antibalas), only with better beer.  I guess industrial chic still carries aesthetic weight with Coloradoans.


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