It was far from Warren Haynes’ Day Off on Monday in Chicago, where the guitarist jammed with Karina Rykman and Susan Tedeschi before Haynes and Rykman sat in with Umphrey’s McGee that night. Then the next day, Gov’t Mule linked up with Tedeschi Trucks Band at Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island for the penultimate night of their joint tour, where more collaborations ensued.
Monday’s appearances started in the jam room of Timeless Gem, a Chicago organization that collects famous instruments from the likes of Jerry Garcia, Dickey Betts, Phil Lesh, and other legendary musicians, occasionally putting them in the hands of contemporary artists. The group recently lent one of Garcia’s Travis Bean TB500 guitars to Derek Trucks for TTB’s trip to Red Rocks Amphitheatre, while that same weekend, Nick Bockrath borrowed Jerry’s other Travis Bean for Cage the Elephant‘s set at Lollapalooza in Chicago.
On Monday, Haynes, Rykman, and Tedeschi stopped by Timeless Gem to jam on some iconic instruments, with Warren picking up Jeff Beck‘s iconic 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard nicknamed “Yardburst.” As Haynes later pointed out on Instagram, the late guitar hero used this Les Paul as his primary instrument from 1966 to 1969, a period that entailed the end of his time with proto-supergroup The Yardbirds and the formation of the Jeff Beck Group.
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The spirit of Jeff Beck was alive and well this week in Chicago, as Haynes and Trucks connected on Tuesday night at Northerly Island for a take on “Freeway Jam” during Mule’s set, and TTB covered “Beck’s Borelo” during its closing set. But before any of that happened, Haynes and Rykman paired their trip to Timeless Gem with a nightcap at the newly opened Garcia’s Chicago.
Umphrey’s McGee just so happened to be celebrating the release of its latest studio album, Blueprints, at the Midwestern expansion of the Port Chester, NY club attached to The Capitol Theatre, and in case Umphrey’s playing a 300-capacity club wasn’t cool enough, Haynes and Rykman stepped in for an “In the Kitchen” encore. Warren replaced guitarist Brendan Bayless mid-song, locking in with UM’s Jake Cinninger as Bayless moved to percussion alongside Andy Farag. Meanwhile, Ryan Stasik seamlessly ceded his bass to Rykman to keep the jam going before Bayless and Stasik reclaimed their instruments to bring the song home at an impressive 17 minutes.
Umphrey’s McGee, Warren Haynes, Karina Rykman — “In The Kitchen” — Garcia’s Chicago — 9/8/25
[Video: Relix]
On Tuesday, Warren Haynes’ Gov’t Mule and Tedeschi Trucks Band resumed their five-show, co-headlining run, where onstage collaborations have been a nightly guarantee. Mule made good use of TTB’s deep 12-person roster in its opening set, calling up vocalists Alecia Chakour, Mark Rivers, and Gabe Dixon for original “Tear Me Down” and adding the Tedeschi Trucks horn section on the Grateful Dead‘s “Shakedown Street” plus Tower of Power‘s “What is Hip?”.
While this run of tour dates has been billed as Gov’t Mule and Tedeschi Trucks Band, to the guitar-minded jam band enthusiast, that reads: Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks. The former Allman Brothers Band bandmates have embraced a full rekindling of their once-nightly associations, with Trucks joining Haynes in the studio for Warren’s Million Voices Whisper album last year, the two reuniting at Madison Square Garden for another round of ABB tribute The Brothers, and now a five-night joint run where they haven’t missed an opportunity to jam together.
Trucks appeared at the end of Mule’s set, adding the iconic Allman Brothers dual-lead sound to Jeff Beck instrumental “Freeway Jam”. Those 13 minutes alone were likely worth the price of admission and the headache of Chicago traffic for many, topped off with Susan Tedeschi coming out to help close the Mule portion of the show with Haynes’ trademark “Soulshine”. And there was still another set to come.
Gov’t Mule — “After The Storm” — Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island — 9/9/25
Gov’t Mule, Derek Trucks — “Freeway Jam” (Jeff Beck) — Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island — 9/9/25
[Video: Barry Pomerantz]
Gov’t Mule, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi — “Soulshine” — Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island — 9/9/25
[Video: Nunupics Zomot]
Jeff Beck’s spirit moved Tedeschi Trucks Band in a similar way, with Derek Trucks leading a cover of “Beck’s Bolero”. The instrumental has been in TTB’s live arsenal since Beck died from a bacterial meningitis infection in January 2023 at the age of 78. Though Trucks shouldered this one on his own, he invited Haynes back out for the evening’s highlight: a joint take on “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”.
This moment (all 16 minutes of it) brought the night full circle as memories from hundreds of nights at the Beacon Theatre came flooding back. As Tedeschi rejoined to close the evening with Matthew Moore‘s “Space Captain”, lingering feelings of forlorn for the loss of the Allman Brothers Band were washed away with the realization that the band lives on through not only these two guitar beacons but also the generations of musicians the ABB played with and inspired. There’s a saying about the road going on forever that probably applies here.
Tedeschi Trucks Band — “Crazy Cryin'”, “Signs, High Times” — Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island — 9/9/25
Tedeschi Trucks Band — “I Want More”, “Beck’s Bolero” (Jeff Beck) — Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island — 9/9/25
[Video: Barry Pomerantz]
Tedeschi Trucks Band, Warren Haynes — “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed” (Allman Brothers Band) — Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island — 9/9/25
[Video: Barry Pomerantz]
The co-headlining Tedeschi Trucks Band/Gov’t Mule run wraps tonight, September 10th, outside Detroit. Find tickets here and stream every show of the run on nugs. Not a subscriber? Sign up for a nugs.net All Access subscription here, or get a 30-day free trial when you sign up for Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Swamp Family fan club here. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your subscription via the links on this page helps to support our work covering the world of live music. Thank you for reading!]
Setlist: Tedeschi Trucks Band | Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island | Chicago, IL | 9/9/25
Set: Crazy Cryin’, Signs, High Times, I Got You, Fall In, Until You Remember, Isaac/Kebbi Jam, Let Me Get By [1], Just Won’t Burn, I Want More, Beck’s Bolero (Jeff Beck), That Did It (Bobby “Blue” Bland), Bound for Glory, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (The Allman Brothers Band) [2] [3], Space Captain (Matthew Moore) [2]
[1] w/ Hendrix “Manic Depression” tease
[2] w/ Warren Haynes
[3] w/ “Les Brers in A Minor” tease during intro