Photo by Dino Perrucci

Dave Grohl and Warren Haynes enjoyed this weekend’s Christmas Jam so much, they didn’t want the good times to end. On Sunday night, after some inclement weather grounded many of the Christmas Jam performers’ flights, keeping them in Asheville, NC, the two rockers announced a pop-up “snow jam” at the Orange Peel that quickly sold out.

“Warren Haynes and Dave Grohl are still in Asheville and many Jam fans are still around, so if that’s you, snow-shoe over to the Orange Peel tonight for a pop-up show, especially for locals and downtown visitors,” the spontaneous show announcement read. “This is going to be one for the record books, with surprises in store.”

The show kicked off with Grohl presenting his “Play” composition, a 20-plus minute instrumental piece that soundtracked his recent documentary of the same name. Grohl offered the live debut of the work at Saturday night’s Christmas Jam.

Afterwards, Haynes joined Grohl on stage, and the rotating combo dug into Led Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” A number of familiar faces from Christmas Jam could be seen swapping spots throughout the show, including Black Crowes alumni Audley Freed on “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” singer-guitarist T-Bone Anderson on the sole Nirvana cover of the evening (“All Apologies”) and Gov’t Mule’s Matt Abts on “Breakdown.” Grohl, who rarely plays selections from his former band Nirvana’s catalog live, switched between drums and guitar for various songs last night.

Jimmy Vivino also stepped in for “Helter Skelter,” and the first set closed with a version of “Bitch” featuring Haynes, Grohl, Vivino, Abts and his Mule bandmates Danny Louis and Jorgen Carlsson, Greg Kurstin, Drew Hester and Ron Holloway.

The lineup remained steady in set two, with Haynes and Grohl leading a jam on Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike” that segued in and out of Traffic’s classic “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” Haynes has previously offered the Temple of the Dog cover in memory of late singer Chris Cornell, a staple of the Seattle grunge scene of which Nirvana was a part. The Who’s “Eminence Front” followed, as did Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” to close set two.

A final lineup of Haynes, Grohl, Louis, Freed, Robert Kearns, Marshall Pyle, Greg Kurstin, Ron Holloway and Artimus Pyle emerged for the encore of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.” (Artimus, drummer for classic-era Skynyrd, and his son, Marshall, along with latter-day Skynyrd bassist and Christmas Jam regular Kearns all have close ties to the classic Southern-rock icons.)

Check out the night’s setlist below, along with some fan-shot video:

Warren Haynes/Dave Grohl Pop-Up Jam
December 9, 2018
The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC

Set I: 

Play (Dave Grohl with Alain Johannes, Chris Chaney, Drew Hester, Greg Kurstin, Jason Falkner & Barrett Jones),
Since I’ve Been Loving You (Warren Haynes with Dave Grohl, Danny Louis, Jorgen Carlsson & Drew Hester),
You Don’t Know How It Feels (Warren Haynes with Dave Grohl, Danny Louis, Jorgen Carlsson, Drew Hester, Audley Freed & Greg Kurstin),
All Apologies (Warren Haynes with Dave Grohl, Danny Louis, Jorgen Carlsson, Barrett Jones, Drew Hester, Greg Kurstin & T-Bone Anderson),
Breakdown (Warren Haynes with Dave Grohl, Alain Johannes, Chris Chaney, Drew Hester, Greg Kurstin, Barrett Jones, Matt Abts, Danny Louis),
Helter Skelter (Warren Haynes with Dave Grohl, Matt Abts, Danny Louis, Chris Chaney, Jimmy Vivino & Greg Kurstin),
Bitch (Warren Haynes with Dave Grohl, Matt Abts, Danny Louis, Jorgen Carlsson, Jimmy Vivino, Greg Kurstin, Drew Hester & Ron Holloway)

Set II:

Warren Haynes with Dave Grohl, Danny Louis, Jorgen Carlsson, Drew Hester, Mike Barnes & Greg Kurstin

Hunger Strike > Dear Mr. Fantasy > Hunger Strike, Eminence Front, No Quarter

Enc:
Simple Man (Warren Haynes with Dave Grohl, Danny Louis, Robert Kearns, Marshall Pyle, Audley Freed, Greg Kurstin, Ron Holloway & Artimus Pyle)

Photo by Jay Blakesberg