Last night, Tedeschi Trucks Band made their way to Jacksonville, FL for their scheduled gig opening the city’s brand new Daily’s Place Amphitheatre. The city’s faithful came out in droves to witness the Jacksonville-native band open the beautiful new venue, and fans waxed nostalgic about watching young Derek Trucks cut his teeth as a child in the city’s music scene. As one older fan told the local NBC affiliate, “We saw Derek when he was 11 years old down at the Crab Pot down at Jax Beach.” You can watch the local Jacksonville news segment about the opening of the new venue below, via First Coast News.
However, what was supposed to be a celebratory event took on a bittersweet atmosphere, as it came just hours after the world heard the news that Gregg Allman, the iconic founder of the Allman Brothers Band, had passed away at the age of 69. Of course, the connections between Tedeschi Trucks Band and the Allmans runs deep: Derek Trucks‘ uncle, the late Butch Trucks, was a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, and helped facilitate Derek officially joining the band in 1999.
The emotional weight of the evening was apparent from the get-go, as the band came out and opened the show with a cover of the Allman’s “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” from their 1972 classic, Eat A Peach. For the next couple of hours, the band had the audience in the palms of their hands in every respect, from the powerful horns in “Don’t Know What it Means,” to the band’s joyous cover of Derek and the Dominoes’ “Keep on Growin’,” to Susan Tedeschi‘s masterful vocal range on “Bird on the Wire,” to a beautiful “Midnight in Harlem” and a ferocious “I Pity the Fool.”
Things got emotional once again during the encore, as Tedeschi walked on with just keyboardist Kofi Burbridge and talked about all the friends she’s lost recently, including Allman, Butch, Leon Russell, Col. Bruce Hampton. “It’s been a rough year,” she said. “It’s getting really difficult to deal with.” She then launched into a gorgeous version of Russell’s “Song for You” that got the tears flowing once again. Next, Trucks and the rhythm section came on and launched into a wistfully celebratory version of the Allmans’ live staple “Statesboro Blues,” during which the band fell silent and watched as Trucks played a solo version of “Amazing Grace,” clearly struggling to keep it together. Finally, the band closed out the performance with a powerful rendition of “Bound For Glory”
You can watch fan-shot footage from the show’s encore here (skip to 6:00 to hear Derek’s emotional solo rendition of “Amazing Grace” in honor of his fallen Brother).
The band heads to Orlando tonight for a show at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts with support from Jon Cleary. For tickets, or for information on all of TTB’s upcoming shows, head to the band’s website.
[Cover photo by Will Dickey/Florida Times-Union]
[via Jacksonville.com]