On Tuesday night, guitarist Scott Sharrard assembled an all-star lineup at New York’s Irving Plaza to remake history on the 47th anniversary of the Allman Brothers Band’s Fillmore East performance. There was scant mention of the “secret” show on the venue’s website, but Allman aficionados still turned out in their mushroom and tie-dyed T-shirts for a show they will remember as being almost as powerful as the original.
Scott Sharrard played in the late Gregg Allman’s band for ten years along with keyboardist Peter Levin. There were additional connections to the Allmans on stage, including a horn section that featured Kris Jensen and Reggie Pittman, both of whom appear with Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band. The first set featured the songs of Gregg Allman’s final album, Southern Blood, on which Sharrard and Levin played. It’s a strong collection of original tunes and covers of classics such as the Grateful Dead’s “Black Muddy River,” Little Feat’s “Willin’” and Jackson Browne’s “Song for Adam.”
The evening’s first special guest was Texas guitar man Doyle Bramhall II. Bramhall occasionally sat in with the Allmans during the Warren Haynes-Derek Trucks era and often collaborates with the Tedeschi Trucks Band. His presence immediately took the energy level, already soaring, up another notch. Bramhall has a stage presence and the chops on both guitar and vocals that have made him a go-to bandmate for the likes of Roger Waters and Eric Clapton.
Another friend of the Allmans and member of Jaimoe’s band, Junior Mack, was up next. Mack’s guitar work is always outstanding, but on this particular night, his vocals on “Willin’” were especially memorable. If the entire evening was intended to be a surprise, the biggest surprise of all was Tash Neal, the guitar half of the London Souls duo that is making waves due largely to Neal’s over-the-top shredding that has people comparing him to, dare we say it, Jimi Hendrix.
On almost any other night, the first set would have sent concert-goers home happy and fulfilled, but things were just getting started. To perform the Fillmore East album in its entirety, Sharrard invited some additional friends, Luther and Cody Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars). Things got off to a fast start with Luther’s slide work on “Statesboro Blues.” Bramhall returned for vocals on “Stormy Monday” and Neal was back for a titanic version of “Whipping Post”. The instrumentals “Hot ‘Lanta” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” showcased the scorching band, including some extended drum communication between Tony Mason and Cody Dickinson, before the set closed with “One Way Out”. For an encore, the evening’s full guitar lineup—Bramhall, Mack, Neal, Luther and Sharrard—appeared together on “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More.”
For 25 years, from 1989 until 2014, March was the month the Allman Brothers Band took up residency at the Beacon Theater. It became a tradition that announced the arrival of Spring. Let’s hope what we saw this March at Irving Plaza becomes a new tradition now that the secret is out.
You can watch full-length videos of the entire performance on Scott Gibson’s YouTube page. See below for a full gallery from photographer Lou Montesano.
