A pair of star-studded concerts in celebration of the 48th anniversary of The Allman Brothers Band‘s iconic 1971 live album, At Fillmore East, are coming to the Northeast. The performances are set to take place at Brooklyn, NY’s Brooklyn Bowl on Wednesday, March 13th and at Ardmore, PA’s Ardmore Music Hall on Friday, March 15th.
Scott Sharrard, the former lead guitarist and musical director of The Gregg Allman Band, will serve as musical director the exciting pair of performances. Each of the shows will begin with a first set performance of Sharrard’s latest critically-acclaimed album, Saving Grace, in its entirety. Sharrard will perform the album with a full band and horn section including drummer Eric Kalb (Deep Banana Blackout, John Scofield) and bassist Adam Minkoff (Dweezil Zappa, Amy Helm, Doyle Bramhall II) as well as special guests Peter Levin (The Gregg Allman Band) and Kenny Brooks (Bob Weir & Ratdog). Don Harris (Stevie Hawkins, Nile Rodgers & Chic) will handle trumpet duties at Brooklyn Bowl, with Reggie Pittman (Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band) taking over on trumpet at Ardmore Music Hall.
For the second set, Sharrard has rounded up an all-star cast of musicians to celebrate the anniversary of one of the greatest live rock and roll albums ever recorded, The Allman Brothers Band’s At Fillmore East. Sharrard will be joined by founding Allman Brothers Band drummer Jaimoe along with drummer Rich Pagano (Fab Faux) and guitarist Tash Neal (The London Souls) at both shows. In Brooklyn, bassist John Conte (Prisoners of 2nd Ave), guitarist Rob Compa (Dopapod), and keyboardists Peter Levin and Danny Louis (Gov’t Mule) will join the party. The Ardmore show will also feature Levin, as well as bassist Jack Daley (Lenny Kravitz) and Jackson Kincheloe (Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds) on harmonica.
On March 11th, 12th, and 13th of 1971, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East, and recorded it for a live album. Advertisements for the shows read: “Bill Graham Presents in New York — Johnny Winter And, Elvin Bishop Group, Extra Added Attraction: Allman Brothers.” Though Winter was initially billed as the event’s headliner, by the third night, the Allman Brothers were closing the show. The performances included noteworthy takes on “Statesboro Blues”, “Stormy Monday”, “You Don’t Love Me”, “Hot ‘Lanta”, and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”, as well as a scorching 23-minute “Whipping Post”.
Below, you can get a taste of what’s to come with a video of Sharrard, Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, Vinnie Amico (moe.), Bernard Purdie, Joey Porter (The Motet), Nate Werth (Snarky Puppy, Ghost-Note), and more performing “Whipping Post” at the 2017 edition of Brooklyn Comes Alive:
“Whipping Post” – Brooklyn Comes Alive 2017
[Video: Live For Live Music]
Despite being recorded at the now-defunct venue in New York City, the album’s cover photo was actually taken on a very cold day in the band’s native Macon, GA. So the story goes, the photographer was having trouble getting the band to cooperate all day, as they continued to give scowling looks toward the camera. As the late Butch Trucks once explained of the photo shoot,
“At one point, a man walked up over next to our truck and Duane jumped up and ran over to him, and the photographer starts screamin’ and hollerin’. Then Duane came back and sat down, and we all busted out laughin’ and that is the picture. That is the only picture from the whole day with everybody laughin’. And if you look, Duane’s got his hands [folded]. What he had done was ran over and picked up a little eight ball of cocaine.” If there’s anything you need to know about At Fillmore East, and the young, rebellious Allman Brothers capured on the recording, that’s it.
Butch Trucks Recalls At Fillmore East Photo Shoot & More
[Video: Music Masters Camps]
Tickets for both shows are now on sale. Head here for Brooklyn Bowl tickets and here for Ardmore Music Hall tickets.
You can also enter to win a free pair of tickets to the Fillmore East tribute show of your choice as well as a limited edition poster and a signed copy of Scott Sharrard’s Saving Grace below.