Photo Credit: Emily Butler

On Monday, Jan. 20, Gov’t Mule returned to the stage at Jewel Paradise Cove Resort with another staging in their 2025 Island Exodus concert getaway. For the second of their three special performances in Runaway Bay, Jamaica, the quartet helmed by Warren Haynes maintained the celebratory energy of night one with another thrilling two-set performance, stretching out and explore their reggae and dub influences while staying true to their hot and heavy brand of Southern rock. 

Gov’t Mule tore into their first set with “Same As It Ever Was,” marking their first live treatment of the 2023 Peace… Like a River album opener recorded on setlist.fm. The band peered back through their catalog with “Wake Up Dead” and the stormy 1998 Dose classic “Larger Than Life,” then dug up a rarity with their first performance of “When The World Gets Small” since Oct. 2021. The band followed with another bust-out of “Stoop So Low,” last played in August 2022, then closed out the first set with a sprint through “Revolution Come, Revolution Go,” “Trane” and an anthemic finale of the Peace… Like a River standout “Made My Peace.”

Gov’t Mule returned to the stage with their sixth-ever cover of Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s “Down by the River,” last performed in October 2021, featuring guitar and vocal support from Drive By Truckers’ Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley. The Truckers remained onstage to amplify a ripping cover of ZZ Top’s “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” a staple of Mule’s setlists since 1999. The quartet got back to basics with “The River Only Flows One Way” and the longtime fan favorite “Dolphineus,” which was segued into “Painted Silver Light.” The rowdy recent hit “Shake Our Way Out” led the band to a cover of John Scofield’s “Hottentot,” which was issued for the first time since August 2017 with support from Karina Rykman’s guitarist Adam November.

To wrap the main portion of their performance, Gov’t Mule poured their energy into a towering treatment of the 2004 Déjà Voodoo essential “Mr. Man.” The band rode again with “Traveling Tune,” featuring Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson, then sent the audience off into the tropical evening alongside Johnson and the Sugar Cubists background vocalists with a blazing recreation of Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle.”

Gov’t Mule will return to the stage tonight to conclude Island Exodus 15 with their third and final performance. Learn more about the event at islandexodus.com.