The Derek Trucks Band - God's gift to the ears

My two favorite bands of all time are the Grateful Dead and the Derek Trucks Band. Since Jerry Garcia died I'm obviously not going to any Dead shows. But the DTB just started a new tour and came through Chicago last weekend. Below is a review of the show that I posted on the DTB listserv. You'll also notice that there is a link to the show in the column on the left if anyone interested would like to listen to a recording and hear just how amazing these guys are. A few notes for clarity - Derek Trucks (DT) is married to blues singer Susan Tedeschi (ST). The members of the band are: Derek Trucks, guitar; Yonrico Scott, drums; Todd Smallie, bass; Kofi Burbridge, keys, B3, flute, clavinet, etc.; Mike Mattison, vocals; Count M'Butu, percussion.

---------------------

Hey folks,
Just got back from the DTB's rocking of the Windy City. It was my first DTB show since the Park West filming of Songlines (i.e. WAY too long). The band was in excellent form (as if they had any other). Susan sat in for a few songs on vocals. The setlist is as follows:

The Vic, Chicago, IL - 9/6/08

I'll Find My Way
Leavin' Trunk
Soul Serenade
Key To The Highway
My Favorite Things
Down Don't Bother Me
Get Out Of My Life Woman
Done Got Over*
Anyday*
Joyful Noise*

Encore:
Volunteered Slavery >
Up Above My Head

*with Susan on vocals

A few notes: The band was hitting on all cylinders from the starting gun. The soul serenade was a nice treat - something I wasn't expecting. I thought I heard a brief Amazing Grace tease during the intro. Wait for the tapes to confirm. (There were at least two tapers there, although I didn't get a chance to go talk to them. I recognized one from the last Park West show, and I know he got his source up pronto). My Favorite things was a nice, long jam. Very nice. I was in Ireland this summer when I first heard the new arrangement of Down don't bother me. I liked it from the get-go, but hearing it live was truly impressive. I hope they put this one on the new record. GOOMLW brought the funk. Susan did a great job (she even gave Barack Obama a shout out while she was improving over the Joyful Noise vamp). I hadn't seen her sit in with the band before and she added a great dynamic, especially when exchanging lines with Mike and Derek. The Volunteered Slavery was a bit spacey, most notably the jam into Up above my head. A real highlight if you ask me. Derek was on fire all night. Detuning, pulling the low E behind the neck of the guitar, and all kinds of DT wizardy. Everyone looked like they were having a good time, and the interplay between DT and ST was fun. They made a good time of it all. Derek also seemed to be more mobile. Not Pete Townsend by any stretch, but a few more bends at the knee, shrugs of the shoulders, and flexing of the elbows than a few years ago. He seems to be finding his element and having more fun with it (perhaps others have noticed this as well, I only bring it up now since I've been unable to hit up many shows in the past few years).
This was the first show I went to with my fiancee. She's not into the jam thing, but really enjoyed the show. We were standing in the section in front of the soundboard, and Katie said that from there Rico looked like Turk from Scrubs (that made me laugh). She got a kick out of Rico and the Count. She definitely enjoyed the show and I think she understands my obsession a bit better now.

----------------------

If I had the money I would follow this band on tour in a heartbeat. At some points during the show it felt like you were in a huge chautauqua tent, especially during Joyful Noise. It's really a great feeling to have. Plus watching DT play guitar is something any music lover should experience. Check to see if they'll be in your neck of the woods soon.