After months of anticipation, Tedeschi Trucks Band on Wednesday kicked off its two-show stretch of arena-sized Garden Parties at Boston, MA’s TD Garden with help from special guests Warren Haynes and Lukas Nelson.

Following an opening set by Lukas Nelson + POTR, the Derek Trucks– and Susan Tedeschi-led 12-piece took the stage to a roar of approval from its first-ever major arena headlining audience. The blues-rock-soul-jam juggernaut kicked things off with Joe Cocker‘s “Woman to Woman” before invoking the celestial themes of its four-part 2022 studio opus, I Am The Moon, with the first two songs from the collection, “Hear My Dear” and “Fall In”. A rendition of Wet Willie‘s “Keep On Smilin'” and another selection from I Am The Moon‘s first movement, “Circles ‘Round the Sun”, kept the proceedings moving smoothly.

While the body of work Tedeschi Trucks Band has created over the course of its 13-year tenure has earned the group arena-sized prominence all its own, the impressive musical pedigree of its co-bandleaders was on full display on Wednesday at TD Garden. Hometown hero Susan Tedeschi, lest we forget, was a Best New Artist Grammy Award nominee in 2000 alongside future pop superstars like Britney Spears, Macy Gray, Kid Rock, and Christina Aguilera. The album that earned her that nod, 1998’s Just Won’t Burn, was just given the 25th-anniversary reissue treatment, and her noted star power was laid bare as she smoldered through the LP’s title track with her significantly evolved band behind her.

That evolution in Tedeschi’s sound has been influenced in large part by her husband, revered slide guitarist Derek Trucks, whose group merged with hers in 2010 to create the prototype for today’s Tedeschi Trucks Band. Trucks, of course, had achieved prodigious success of his own before that point as a longtime member of the Allman Brothers Band, and his history reared its head in Boston with the appearance of his fellow veteran ABB guitarist, Warren Haynes.

Following a rousing “Made Up Mind”, Warren took the stage to channel the old days with Derek on a roaring rendition of the Allmans’ “Dreams”, one of the evening’s many musical high points. Haynes stuck around to lead the expanded outfit through its first-ever take on Van Morrison‘s “Into The Mystic”, a longtime staple of his live repertoire. To round out his mid-set stop-in, the Gov’t Mule guitarist shared lead vocals with Tedeschi and harmonized lead guitars with Trucks on TTB’s first rendition of the Allman Brothers’ “Blue Sky” in five years as Lukas Nelson strummed along on an acoustic guitar to Warren’s left.

Once Haynes and Nelson had cleared the stage, applause echoing through the arena, the band winked at its departing guests with a sing-along cover of Rod Stewart classic “Stay With Me”. The ensuing take on Bobby “Blue” Bland‘s “I Pity The Fool” played a satisfying foil to the Southern-rock sound of the set’s various ABB homages, its hair-raising blues expression across the board embodying the other side of the TTB coin.

A powerful “Midnight In Harlem” and a cathartic “I Want More” finally teed up the set’s last number, a cover of the late Jeff Beck‘s “Beck’s Bolero”. After briefly clearing the stage, Derek, Susan, and company took their places once more to begin the encore with a voice-and-keys duet by Tedeschi and Gabe Dixon on the Bonnie Raitt-popularized “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and a full-band blast through their own time-tested statement-maker, “Bound For Glory”.

With time for one more, the band once again brought Warren Haynes to the stage for a rendition of Dr. John‘s “I Walk on Guilded Splinters” that seemed to raise the proverbial bar head and shoulders above what was already a top-notch performance.

Tedeschi Trucks Band will ride the momentum from Boston into the second and final installment of The Garden Parties on Friday at New York, NY’s famed Madison Square Garden with special guests Trey Anastasio and Norah Jones.

Below, check out the full setlist and a selection of crowd-shot videos as well as a gallery of photos from the first-ever Tedeschi Trucks Band show at Boston, MA’s TD Garden via Andrew Blackstein.

Tedeschi Trucks Band w/ Warren Haynes – “Dreams” (Allman Brothers Band) – 9/27/23
[Video: susea]

Tedeschi Trucks Band w/ Warren Haynes, Lukas Nelson – “Blue Sky” (Allman Brothers Band) – 9/27/23
[Video: K T]

Susan Tedeschi & Gabe Dixon – “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (Mike Reid, Allen Shamblin) – 9/27/23
[Video: K T]

Tedeschi Trucks Band w/ Warren Haynes – “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” (Dr. John) – 9/27/23
[Video: susea]

Setlist: Tedeschi Trucks Band | TD Garden | Boston, MA | 9/27/23

Set: Woman To Woman (Joe Cocker), Hear My Dear, Fall In, Keep On Smilin’ (Wet Willie), Circles ‘Round the Sun, Just Won’t Burn (Susan Tedeschi), Made Up Mind, Dreams (Allman Brothers Band) [1], Into The Mystic (Van Morrison) [1][2], Blue Sky (Allman Brothers Band) [1][3], Stay With Me (Faces), I Pity the Fool (Bobby “Blue” Bland), Midnight in Harlem, I Want More > Beck’s Bolero (Jeff Beck)

Encore: I Can’t Make You Love Me (Mike Reid), Bound For Glory, I Walk On Guilded Splinters (Dr. John) [1]

[1] with Warren Haynes (guitar/vocals)
[2] Tedeschi Trucks Band debut
[3] with Lukas Nelson on acoustic guitar, Warren Haynes and Susan Tedeschi sharing lead vocals; LTP 10/5/18.