Gov’t Mule’s ongoing archival live release series continues with Dub Side of The Mule, scheduled to be released April 7th in various formats. The 12-track, hour-long set captures full Mule alongside (then) 61 year-old reggae legend Frederick “Toots” Hibbert of Toots & the Maytals.  

Meshing traditional roots, ska, and R&B with Gov’t Mule’s distinctive southern jam-rock, Toots & Mule front man Warren Haynes deliver an outstanding performance for the second of the night’s three sets on this New Year’s Eve extravaganza from their 2006 Beacon Theatre concert at the center of the celebratory universe in New York City.

Within the smoking hour long set at The Beacon, Toots and Mule pull no punches and bust out all of their heavy-hitting tricks to raise the venue’s excitement to a plane of elation for the remainder of the evening’s collective mood, bringing to fruition the friendly Rastafarian band/viewer interplay with participatory call and response including Hibbert calling “Reggae got soul” and a jubilant crowd beckoning back “Got soul, got soul!” “Reggae got soul.” “Got soul, got soul!”

Leading into “I’ve Got Dreams To Remember,” Toots qualifies the feeling exemplified by the band for the evening: “I wanna dedicate this song to everyone, but especially to the ladies. And we the man are gonna make you feel so good.” This is sixty minutes of sexy skank and ska reggae complimented by the melodic guitar mastery of Warren Haynes.  

Highlights from the night include the classic ska anthem “54-46 Was My Number,” a cover of Radiohead’s “Let Down,” “Turn On Your Lovelight,” and a fiery “Hard Road” that segues into the New Year’s Eve countdown and ushers in 2007.

Following December 2014’s Dark Side of The Mule, and Sco-Mule released this January featuring jazz guitar master John Scofield, Dub Side of The Mule will be the band’s third archival release, and soon to be followed by the April 18th release of Stoned Side of The Mule Vol. 2 celebrating their 2009 Halloween tribute to The Rolling Stones.

Dub Side comes in Standard CD form, 180-gram vinyl LP, and as Deluxe 3-CD/DVD Set, featuring the entirety of their 2006 New Year’s Eve show with such guests as John Popper and Gregg Allman. This is one great album that you don’t want to miss!

And be sure to catch Mule as they kick off the Masters this week at the Major Rager!