No keeping them down
Sound Effects missed out on the Allman Brothers this past weekend, but luckily Globe correspondent Steve Morse made the sojourn to Mansfield. He reports:
It was an emotional night at the Comcast Center on Saturday, as both the Allman Brothers Band and Bob Weir & RatDog were fighting back from serious illnesses to group members. The Allmans had to postpone their annual spring residency in New York's Beacon Theatre because singer Gregg Allman (above) needed treatment for Hepatitis C. And RatDog was back with guitarist Mark Karan, who missed last summer's tour because of throat cancer.
Both recovering musicians came through with flying colors. Allman's perennial, blues-soaked voice was in fine form on a lengthy, twisting "Desdemona,'' while Karan was a formidable spark on RatDog's reprise of the Grateful Dead's psychedelic epic, "Dark Star.''
The Allmans headlined the nearly sold-out show with a typically potent set keyed by a piercing jam on "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed'' (guitarist Derek Trucks took it for an interstellar ride) and thrilled listeners with a subtly powerful treatment of Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic.'' And there was no denying the power of Susan Tedeschi's guest appearance on the bluesy "It Hurts Me Too.'' The Norwell native (and Trucks's wife) gave it a near-Janis Joplin treatment.
RatDog was again led by Dead alumnus Weir, whose best songs of the night were pulled from Bob Dylan's catalog. Weir added a fiery bite to "Maggie's Farm'' and "Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall,'' two of Dylan's best protest tunes. Weir also paid tribute to former mate Jerry Garcia by doing a Jerry favorite, "Dear Prudence,'' by the Beatles. And the punchy classic "Little Red Rooster'' featured a torrid guest shot from Trucks, whose appearance further cemented this night's tightknit, gathering-of-the-vibes feel.
(The Allman Brothers and RatDog play at the Dodge Music Center in Hartford Aug. 20.)
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