While The Brothers filled Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, some 700 miles away in Asheville, NC, a different tribute to the Allman Brothers Band took place. Combining the legacies of the Allmans and the Grateful Dead, Live Dead & Brothers delivered a collaborative and cohesive commemoration of the jam rock titans’ early 1969–1973 days. There was perhaps no better visualisation for this symbiotic celebration than guitar whiz Steve Kimock covering the Allman Brothers Band’s “Jessica” on a replica of Jerry Garcia‘s “Wolf” guitar.
Originally launched with former Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten and Brothers & Sisters session player Les Dudek in 2024, Live Dead & Brothers currently features bassist Berry Duane Oakley (son off original ABB bassist Berry Oakley), guitarist Mark Karan (The Other Ones, RatDog), keyboardist Scott Guberman (Phil Lesh & Friends, Communion), and drummer Pete Lavezzoli (Jazz Is Dead) with additional six-string support from Steve Kimock.
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While Kimock may be what got a lot of people in the door (including this writer), it was immediately apparent from Tuesday’s opening free jam that this was just as much Lavezzoli’s show. Drumming in an Allman Brothers cover band requires a little something extra, a propulsion inherent to the late great Butch Trucks and deeply ingrained with jazz flexibility. All night, Lavezzoli steered the ship from the deft show-starting “Hot ‘Lanta” through the thunderous second-set opening “Morning Dew” to a “U.S. Blues” encore that the band still unspooled even after the venue turned on the lights. All of this he did while delivering serene vocals and wearing one of the biggest grins in the packed club.
Live Dead & Brothers — “Morning Dew” (Bonnie Dobson)
[Video: BigRedAudio]
Together the band alternated Allman classics “Midnight Rider”, “Melissa”, “Jessica”, “Southbound”, and “Dreams” with Dead staples “Big River” (Johnny Cash), “Uncle John’s Band”, and “The Other One”. Kimock brought era-appropriate equipment as he plugged in a Gibson SG for some authentic Primal Dead sound (though he was pushing it by bringing Wolf, which Jerry debuted live in September 1973). Though Steve’s Dead pedigree precedes him, he also quite literally rose to the occasion of covering the expanded catalog as he stood from his perch beside his amps to deliver blistering blues-drenched solos in the style of the Allmans but also, unmistakably, in his own. Like Lavezzoli, Kimock switched his style as the situation warranted, going from lap guitar bliss on “Melissa” to rowdy psychedelia and noise-rock feedback on “The Other One”.
To punctuate its two sets, Live Dead & Brothers used two of the most potent Allman Brothers instrumentals, “Jessica” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”. While worlds collided as Kimock set Wolf loose on “Jessica”, he reeled off some of his most pugnacious licks of the evening on “Elizabeth Reed” (SG in hand), showing that the mild-mannered Kimock—who was making friends with the venue staff hours before during load-in—still has some snarl in him. On a stage filled with dazzling instrumentalists, it was regretably only until “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” that it felt like Guberman was finally given the space to truly shine, laying out an organ solo that left this writer wanting more.
Fortunately, there’s still plenty of Live Dead & Brothers to go around. The band’s tour continues this week in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The group also recently announced new dates in June. Find tickets and dates on the group’s BandsInTown.
Live Dead & Brothers — “Hard To Handle” (Otis Redding)
[Video: BigRedAudio]
Live Dead & Brothers — The Grey Eagle — Asheville, NC — 4/15/25 — Set One
Live Dead & Brothers — The Grey Eagle — Asheville, NC — 4/15/25 — Set Two
Setlist: Live Dead & Brothers | The Grey Eagle | Asheville, NC | 4/15/25
Set One: Hot ‘Lanta, Big River, Midnight Rider -> Who Do You Love -> Melissa, Uncle John’s Band, Jessica
Set Two: Morning Dew, Statesboro Blues > Southbound, The Other One -> Dreams, Hard To Handle [1], In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
Encore: U.S. Blues
[1] w/ Gabe Woodside (crew) on vocals