Gov't Mule continued their early fall tour dates on Tuesday evening with a performance at The Fillmore in Detroit and marked the show with an extended musical tribute to late Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, who passed away on Monday at the age of 78.
After opening the night with a first set of Mule staples like opener "Bad Little Doggie" and the closing run of "Funny Little Tragedy" and "Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home," the band returned for set two to offer a number of tunes from Hunter's vast catalog, starting with "Lay of the Sunflower," which frontman Warren Haynes wrote with Hunter for Mule's 2002 studio album, The Deep End, Volume 2. Haynes and company then ran through Hunter-penned Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia cuts "Dark Star," "Loser" and "Sugaree," before closing the set with two selections from Gov't Mule's 1995 self-titled debut album, "Rocking Horse" and "Mule." The group then returned to the Fillmore stage for an encore of "That's What Love Will Make You Do."
In a later post on Instagram, Mule shared photos from the evening and wrote, "An emotional night for sure. Thank you for helping us to pay tribute to the great Robert Hunter."
Earlier in the day on Tuesday, Haynes also took to Instagram to share a heartfelt note about Hunter, beginning, "Robert Hunter's lyrics were timeless stories that transported the listener to another time and place. The music was the vehicle that brought us there. The uncanny combination of those two worlds made for an overall experience that was beyond just the music itself."
Haynes went on to talk about co-writing "Lay of the Sunflower" with Hunter, writing that when he read the lyrics, "a melody instantly came into my head... When I told that to Phil Lesh, he said 'Jerry used to say the same thing.'
"There was only one Robert Hunter," Haynes concludes. "Thankfully there are hundreds of songs that will live on - a part of him that became part of us. It would be impossible to choose a favorite. But for this moment, 'If I knew the way I would take you home.'"
Read the full note below, and check out last night's Mule setlist as it appears in our Box Scores section. Next up for the band is a show tomorrow night in Clear Lake, IA.
Gov’t Mule
The Fillmore Detroit, MI
Dedicated to the memory of Robert Hunter
Set I: Bad Little Doggie, Brand New Angel, Steppin’ Lightly, Far Away, Larger Than Life, Doing It To Death, Banks Of The Deep End, Funny Little Tragedy, Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home
Set II: Lay Of The Sunflower, Dark Star, Loser, Sugaree, Rocking Horse, Mule
Enc: That’s What Love Will Make You Do
Source: Mule.net
