Speculation abounded regarding Gov’t Mule’s 1000th show which took place at the Warfield in San Francisco on Friday night. Much of this swirled around a possible appearance by members of the Dead, which is precisely what took place, as the entire group, except for Jimmy Herring, emerged for much of the second set. Early in that set, Phil Lesh stepped in on bass during ‘Lay of the Sunflower’ after which Matt Abts and Danny Louis then moved off as the other members of the Dead appeared for a segued stretch that extended from ‘Cryptical Envelopment’ into ‘The Other One,’ ‘Wang Dang Doodle’ and back into ‘The Other One.’ Following a take on ‘Sugaree,’ Abts and Louis returned for a collective set-closing run through ‘Viola Lee Blues’ and ‘Lovelight.’ Gov’t Mule then re-appeared with Zigaboo Modeliste joining Abts on drums for much of the third set. At the end of the evening as the band appeared for bows they donned shirts that spelled out 1-0-0-0 (front) S-H-O-W (back).
The action continued over the course of the weekend during which a number of individuals appeared both on and off stage with the group (Dave Grohl was a notable member of the latter category). On Saturday at the Wilshire Theater in Hollywood, both Ben Harper and Marc Ford performed with the Mule, while Hook Herrera added harp on the 17th and again last night at the 4th & B in San Diego, CA. Gov’t Mule is off tonight before a gig at the Grove in Anaheim tomorrow night.