[UPDATE]: Those who didn’t make it to Toulouse Theatre in New Orleans on Sunday, April 28th for Kitchen Dwellers‘ tribute to Dr. John can tune into nugs on Saturday, May 11th at 8 p.m. ET for a full broadcast of the show. The stream will be available to existing nugs subscribers at no additional charge. Scroll down for additional info and head here to sign up for a nugs subscription.

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[4/29/24]: The spirits haunting the mountains of western Montana drifted down to the Big Easy on Sunday night as galaxy grass voodoo men Kitchen Dwellers led a tribute to Dr. John at the Toulouse Theatre in New Orleans. Such a night it was, with the songs of the famed Night Tripper translating to progressive bluegrass jam in a display of only-at-Jazz Fest magic.

Sunday’s 9 p.m. show was Kitchen Dwellers’ first time playing in New Orleans, but the packed house extended them plenty of Southern hospitality. While this was the full outfit’s first gig in NOLA, guitarist Max Davies came to his first Jazz Fest back in 2014, so it was only fitting he handled a good share of songs by the good Dr. including “Cold Cold Cold” and a lovely swaying “Such A Night”.

Though there was plenty of good home Creole cooking in the pot, the Dwellers still seasoned generously with their own jamgrass spices, like on a seamless transition from “Such A Night” that bubbled into a feverish version of KD’s “Woods Lake”. Throughout the evening, the band slid from one songbook to another with the grace of a server at Cafe Du Monde gliding around bustling tables with a full tray of hot coffee. The Dwellers weren’t even just confined to their songs and Dr. John’s on Sunday, serving up combos like a “Right Place, Wrong Time” cover that dipped a relevant “Gumbo” by Phish before returning to the Dr. John classic.

Davies, banjoist Torrin Daniels, bassist Joe Funk, and mandolinist Shawn Swain also made sure to highlight their newest disc, Seven Devils, with a particularly roaring “Wind Bitten”. Bassist Joe Funk had a noteworthy evening at the forefront, singing his songs “The Crown”, “Muir Made”, and more. Though Funk’s mournful drawl was a dominating presence, soft-spoken mandolinist Shawn Swain let his strings do the talking as he propelled jams like the one on “Ghost in the Bottle”.

Related: I Read Dante’s ‘Inferno’ To Understand Kitchen Dwellers’ New Album ‘Seven Devils’ So You Don’t Have To [Interview]

There is an inherent element of eeriness to Kitchen Dwellers’ music, with song topics ranging from ghosts in bottles to haunted lakes to the general decay of middle America at the hands of addiction and mental health crises. In much the same way, throughout his prolific career, Dr. John confronted the spirits that lie in the darkness of the New Orleans swamps and beyond. This stylistic blend came to its most rewarding conversion toward the end of the single-set show with an absolutely unsettling “I Walk On Guilded Splinters”. The Gris Gris classic has been in Dwellers’ live repertoire for several years now, likely serving as the genesis for Sunday’s one-off show. Torrin Daniels accented the cover with his percussive slapping of his banjo, sending out a fitting tribute to the music of Dr. John—a giant who continues to inspire the musicians of his native New Orleans and well beyond, even from the beyond.

Check out a gallery of images from Kitchen Dwellers’ tribute to Dr. John courtesy of photographer Stewart Ray below along with some fan-shot videos. For a list of upcoming Kitchen Dwellers tour dates, head here.

Setlist: Kitchen Dwellers | Toulouse Theatre | New Orleans, LA | 4/28/24

Set: Muir Maid > Iko Iko (Dr. John) > Big Mon (Bill Monroe), Down In New Orleans (Dr. John) > Wind Bitten, The Crown > Such A Night (Dr. John) > Woods Lake, Right Place, Wrong Time (Dr. John) > Gumbo (Phish) > Right Place, Wrong Time, Ghost In the Bottle > I Walk On Gilded Splinters (Dr. John) > Ghost In the Bottle, Cold Cold Cold (Dr. John)

Encore: I Will Play For Gumbo (Jimmy Buffett) > Jambalaya (On The Bayou) (Carpenters) >Timebomb (Old 97’s)