Vintage Trouble and Govt. Mule at Stubbs

Vintage Trouble

I can't completely recall how Vintage Trouble first appeared on my radar. It may have been when they were featured on the iTunes store.

I do remember buying their album, giving it multiple listens, and noting that they were playing ACL Festival this year. Their retro, blues rock sound, reminded me of Storyville, and I enjoyed their music enough to also sign up for their mailng list.

Although I deliberately opted out of ACL for the second year thus missing both of their appearances, I discovered through their mailing list that would be returning to Austin one month later, opening for Govt. Mule. I was aware of the headliners, and liked some of their music, but honestly this was one of those cases, where I bought a ticket to see the opening band.

Lineup

The band originally hails from Hollywood, CA, and the lineup is as follows:

• Ty Taylor - Vocals
  
• Nalle Colt - Guitar
  
• Rick Barrio Dill - Bass
  
• Richard Danielson - Drums
  

They played a single set about an hour in length, and really knocked it out of the park. The lead singer is very energetic and dynamic showman, and has the vocal chops to deliver the sound in a live context. I ran into a former coworker (and fellow keyboard player), Todd Frenzel and his wife. Like me, they had come specifically to see VT, so there is a bit of a buzz about them.

Not being intimate with their music yet, I didn't capture a setlist, but did recognize songs from their debut album, The Bomb Shelter Sessions.

Govt. Mule

The headliners was Govt. Mule, a southern rock, jam band formed as a side project, by two members of the Allman Brothers Band, Warren Haynes, and Allen Woody (now deceased). Normally, I don't enjoy jam bands, but the Mule doesn't fit the typical prototype for the genre.

Lineup

The current lineup of Govt. Mule is as follows:

• Warren Haynes - Vocals and Guitar
  
• Matt Abts - Drums
  
• Danny Louis - Keyboards and Trombone
  
• Jorgen Carlsson - Bass
  

Special Guest

In addition to the members above, there were two special guests who joined the band on stage. Hook Herrera joined the Mule on stage during their set, as well as during the encore, and played Blues Harp. In addition, Nalle Colt, Vintage Trouble's guitarist also joined the Mule on stage for the encore.

Setlist

The Mule posts their setlists on their website, so you can find it here.

I estimate that that Mule played for close to two hours, with the show ending just before midnight. They are very tight, and everything was well done. If I had one criticism, it was that Warren Haynes is nowhere near the showman that Ty Taylor is. All in all, it was a great night of music on crisp, Fall night, in Austin.