Warren Haynes Leads An Unbelievable Cast Of Musicians In The Ritz Power Jam, On This Day In 1993 [Full Audio]

On February 5, 1993, Warren Haynes assembled an all-star crew to play The Ritz in New York City.

The evening was appropriately billed as The Ritz Power Jam and brought together a truly mind-boggling collection of talented musicians. The line-up included Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band), John Popper (Blues Traveler), Noel Redding (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), Leland Schliefer (Warren Haynes Band), Chuck Leavell (Allman’s/Aquarium Rescue Unit), Bernie Worrell (Parliament Funkadelic), Jaimoe (Allman’s), Jerome Brailey (Parliament Funkadelic), and Marc Quinones (Allmans). The evening also saw Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Dave Tronzo, Dave Matthews, Leroi Moore, and Boyd Tinsley sit-in with the already stacked crew.

To kick off the night, the supergroup started things off with Jimmy Smith’s “Back at the Chicken Shack.” The evening’s setlist contained primarily covers, and the first set saw tunes by Chuck Barry, Taj Mahal, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix. Toward the end of this first set, the band also moved into a John Popper original, “Escaping,” before closing out the set with Billy Roberts’ “Hey Joe.”

Booker T & The MG’s “Hip Hug-Her” started off the second set before the group moved into B.B. King’s “Rock Me Baby.” Toward the beginning of the set, Dave Tronzo appeared for Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House” and threw it down on the slide guitar. After the group moved through tunes by Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, and Otis Redding and Warren Haynes’ original “Just Before The Bullets Fly,” Trey Anastasio (who had played the Roseland Ballroom with Phish earlier in the evening)  came out for Little Feat’s “Spanish Moon.”

To end the second set, the Dave Matthews Band featuring Dave Matthews, Leroi Moore, and Boyd Tinsley came out to join Trey and the rest of the band for Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along The Watchtower,” during which Trey, Warren, and Popper switched off on vocals. For the encore, the Dave Matthews Band left, but a new friendly face appeared: Mike Gordon. Together with Trey and the rest of the supergroup, the group finished off the night with Van Morrison’s “Gloria,” with repeated teases of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself.”

You can hear the full audio of the incredible Warren Haynes Ritz Power Jam form February 5th, 1993 via PanicStream, and check out the setlist for yourself below, courtesy of phish.net.

Setlist [via phish.net]: The Ritz Power Jam | The Ritz | New York, NY | 2/5/1993 

Set 1: Back at the Chicken Shack > Born Under a Bad Sign , Let It Rock , Improv Blues in ‘G’ , She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride , Down the Road , A Mess of Blues , Little Wing , Day Tripper , Escaping , Hey Joe

Set 2: Hip Hug-Her , Rock Me Baby , In the Wee Wee Hours , Red House , Yonder Wall , She Belongs To Me , Not Fade Away , That’s Heaven to Me , Just Before the Bullets Fly , I’ve Been Loving You Too Long , Spanish Moon [1], All Along the Watchtower [2]

Encore: Gloria [3]

[Originally published 2/5/17]