Gov't Mule Takes 'Em Back to the Future

© Tobin Voggesser / RumBum.com

Gov't Mule at Mile High 09

Southern rock pioneers Gov't Mule took the Mile High's Main Stage East for a 90-minute set just about the time Mother Nature started acting up. The sky threatened to open up and dump a ton of rain on the crowd, the winds started swirling, carrying dust and dirt on its wings. Dark clouds were coming in from every direction, like the nothing storm from The Never Ending Story. None of this affected the crowd, or Gov't Mule, led by Warren Haynes, who delivered never ending jams to a battalion of loyal fans.

The Allman Brothers offshoot gently laid out track after track, as the sun began to ominously descend behind the Rockies to the west. There was a lot of love in the air during Gov't Mule's set, and the atmosphere felt like a family reunion, despite the storm brewing in the heavens. The crowd was by far older and gentler than any other act of the day, and the music agreed with them. Gov't Mule was in no hurry, even as the rain started to fall.

Lead singer and guitarist Warren Haynes looked like a rock god on the gigantic monitor, particularly silhouetted against the storm clouds to his back. The wind blew his long hair to and fro; he looked like Thor, seriously, and his ax was a fierce guitar that he could yield just as well as anyone on the planet. The range of musical talent was so broad at Mile High it was a real treat to have a rock legend like Haynes bless the crowd with his presence. The sense of rock royalty was not lost on anyone, no matter how old they were.

Gov't Mule, about to release their thirteenth studio album, provided another piece of the music festival puzzle. Their presence gave older heads a band to connect with, in contrast to the crazy stuff "the kids" listen to these days. There's nothing like a-blast-from-the-past to take a crowd back-to-the-future. And Mile High fest-goers did not need a flux capacitor to come back to the future; they were content where they were. All they needed was a lawn chair and about ninety minutes of the 1960's infused power of Gov't Mule . . .

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