The music came to a stop an hour ahead of schedule as inclement weather forced the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to shut down early on its opening day. The brief but intense combination of rain and lightning cut short headlining performances from Wilco, Snarky Puppy, Jimmy Cliff, Keith Urban and more, much to the chagrin of fans and the artists themselves.
Over on the Acura Stage, Urban had to call his set after only a few songs, though it didn’t stop him from powering through a one man rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?” before making his exit. Meanwhile, Wilco fans at the Gentilly stage were treated to roughly half a set that included favorites like “Handshake Drugs,” “Impossible Germany,” “Heavy Metal Drummer,” and the New Orleans-inspired “Walken” before festival organizers reluctantly called things off.
Snarky Puppy hadn’t even brought their full band to the stage by the time their set came to a close after only two songs—“Shofukan” and “Lingus”—at a packed WWOZ Jazz Tent. Jimmy Cliff also made an early exit from what was looking to be a high-energy show from the 67-year-old reggae legend.
However, things weren’t all dark and stormy on the first day of Jazz Fest. Fans at the Acura Stage were treated to an excellent midday set from Tedeschi Trucks Band, who worked through expansive takes on tracks like “Bound for Glory” and “Made of Mind,” as well as a moving rendition of their Revelator stand out “Midnight in Harlem.” As is often the case, the show was highlighted by the band’s masterful cohesion and some exquisite (which is to say, par for the course) guitar work from Derek Trucks.
Other early sets included Gentilly Stage performances by increasingly popular Irish singer-songwriter Hozier, Baton Rouge-based indie rockers Royal Teeth and local prog-funk quintet Earphunk. The Honey Island Swamp Band also played a rocking early set on the Acura Stage, while the Nicholas Payton Trio wowed the crowd over at the Jazz Tent, just to name a few of the day’s top shows.
In typical Jazz Fest fashion, the music kept going long after the festival proper had closed its gates. Most notably, Gov’t Mule took over the historic Saenger Theatre for a fantastic show that featured some serious brass augmentation. The band got some first set help from The Soul Rebels—who joined them for “Pass The Peas,” “Doin’ It To Death,” “Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker),” and “Eminence Front”—as well as Trombone Shorty, who came out for second set takes on “What Is Hip” and “I’d Rather Go Blind,” the latter of which featured an appearance by local singer Maggie Koerner. The show, which ended up including significantly less guests than last year’s epic Mule late night, also featured encore covers of Pink Floyd’s “One Of These Days” and The Doors’ “Riders On The Storm” and “People Are Strange.”
At the nearby Joy Theater, The Meter Men—a collaboration between The Meters’ George Porter Jr., Leo Nocentelli and Zigaboo Modeliste and Phish keyboardist Page McConnell—took the stage for jammed out take on classics like “Hey Pocky Way,” “Cissy Strut” and more.
While Snarky Puppy may have had their festival set cut much too short, members of the band did make their way to a few venues around the city for some top notch jam sessions. Drummer Robert ‘Sput” Searight and percussionist Nate Werth blew some minds at Gasa Gasa with their percussion-heavy side project Ghost Note, which followed an excellent set from rising New Orleans jazz ensemble Naughty Professor. Later in the night, keyboardist Cory Henry, trumpeter Mike Maher and multi-instrumentalist Chris Bullock joined The Floozies for an exciting, laser-filled fusion of jazz and jamtronica at the Republic. The show also featured a sit in from saxophonist Khris Royal, as well as appearances by Lettuce bassist Erick “Jesus’ Coomes and trumpeter Eric Bloom, who had just come from their band’s set at the nearby Civic Theater.
The night featured music from Dr. John, who took the stage at Tipitina’s in Uptown New Orleans for a set that featured sit ins from guitar prodigy Brandon “Taz” Niederauer and Yojimbo trombonist Carly Meyers during “I Walk On Guilded Splinters.” Up-and-coming rocker Benjamin Booker also held things down at One Eyed Jacks, while Billy Iuso invited a number of guests during his set at the newly opened Frenchman Street club 30/90, including Furthur singer Sunshine Becker and John Legend’s horn section. Things also got weird at the Maple Leaf as usual, with Johnny Vidacovich, Oteil Burbridge and Skerik teaming up for a wee hours set that went from 2:30am until just about sunrise.
Jazz Fest will continue today with performances by The Who, Ryan Adams, John Legend, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk with Art Neville, The Revivalists, Givers, The Robert Cray Band and many more, along with countless late night sets.
Here’s a look at last night’s Gov’t Mule set as it appears in our Box Scores:
Set I: Mr. Man, Rocking Horse > Stoop So Low (Outro 2), Larger Than Life, Forsaken Savior, Pass The Peas*, Doin It To Death*, Under My Thumb, Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)*, Eminence Front*
Set II: Mule > Wabash > Mule > What Is Hip?^, I’d Rather Go Blind**, Stratus, Child Of The Earth, Thorazine Shuffle
Enc: One Of These Days > Riders On The Storm > People Are Stange
(*) with the Soul Rebels
(^) with Trombone Shorty
(**) with Trombone Shorty and Maggie Koener
Source: Mule.net
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