photo by Nicole Brennian via Mule.net

As the first weekend of this year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival continued, Gov’t Mule brought their spring tour to the Crescent City for a show at the Orpheum Theater that featured a number of special guests and a couple live debuts for Mule throughout the two-set affair.

After Warren Haynes and company kicked off the evening with “Railroad Boy,” “Thorazine Shuffle” and more of their live staples like “Revolution Come, Revolution Go,” the band offered a series of improvisational jams tucked between two segments of “No Need to Suffer,” and then the guest spots began.

First up was guitarist Jimmy Vivino, who emerged for a cover of Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home,” which included an interlude of “Black Widow Spider” (a Gov’t Mule debut), before the headlining band closed the set with “Mule” (which featured a tease of Kool & The Gang’s “Jungle Boogie”).

Set two opened with saxophonist Branford Marsalis and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, who both joined Mule for a couple of Grateful Dead covers, “Bird Song” and “Fire On the Mountain,” the latter also featuring drummer Jay Lane and marking the first time Mule had played the tune in concert. The set later closed out with Derek and the Dominos’ “Why Does Love Got to be So Sad,” which brought back Vivino to the stage. The guitarist also helped Mule out with their two-song encore, wrapping up the night with “Soulshine” and “Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home.”

Check out the full setlist below as it appears in our Box Scores section:

Gov’t Mule
Orpheum Theater New Orleans, LA

Set I: Railroad Boy> Thorazine Shuffle, Fool’s Moon, Beautifully Broken, Revolution Come Revolution Go, Drawn That Way, No Need to Suffer> Starship Trooper Jam> The Gates of Delirium Jam> Starship Trooper Jam> The Gates of Delirium Jam> No Need to Suffer, Can’t Find My Way Home*> Black Widow Spider**> Can’t Find My Way Home*, Mule (with Jungle Boogie Tease)

Set II: Bird Song^, Fire On The Mountain^^, Funny Little Tragedy (with Message In A Bottle lyrics), Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad*

Enc: Soulshine*, Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home*

Notes:
*with Jimmy Vivino
**Debut; with Jimmy Vivino
^with Branford Marsalis & Jeff Chimenti
^^ Debut; with Branford Marsalis, Jeff Chimenti & Jay Lane; without Matt Abts

Source: Mule.net