The Marcus King Band made their Red Rocks debut on Saturday night, opening up for Gov’t Mule and Yonder Mountain String Band at the beloved Morrison, Colorado venue. It was the band’s first time playing the legendary stage together, though King himself joined Lettuce for Rage Rocks back in May. While still an extraordinarily young band, touring the country vigorously throughout the year, MKB’s performance at Red Rocks felt long-awaited. And boy, did they deliver!
Fellow collaborator and musical mentor Warren Haynes joined Marcus King Band during their opening set, for a ripping version of the Allman Brothers Band‘s “Dreams.” Of course, the two have collaborated before, with Haynes producing and playing on The Marcus King Band’s self-titled 2016 album. The ABB theme continued through Gov’t Mule’s headlining set, when King emerged to close the first set with “Whipping Post,” then returned again for an encore with members of Yonder Mountain String Band for the Mule debut of “Melissa.” The collaborators, which included YMSB’s Dave Johnston, Adam Aijala, Allie Kral, and Jake Joliff, jammed straight into “Mountain Jam,” before bringing “Melissa” to a fantastic reprise. In addition to the closing Allman Brother tunes, Mule performed “Come And Go Blues and included a “Les Brers In A Minor” tease earlier in the set–totaling five Allman covers in Mule’s set. The Marcus King Band’s opening “Dreams” truly set the tone for a fantastic night of heartfelt music from all three bands.
Watch Warren Haynes join The Marcus King Band for “Dreams” below, courtesy of Jeremiah Rogers:
Watch Marcus King join Gov’t Mule for “Whipping Post,” courtesy of kellypearson1000:
Watch Marcus King, Dave Johnston, Adam Aijala, Allie Kral, and Jake Joliff join Gov’t Mule for “Melissa”>”Mountain Jam”>”Melissa” below, courtesy of D Ragoose:
See below for Paul Dumah Morgan’s depiction of MKB’s Red Rocks debut:
[cover photo by Gary Sheer]