Gov’t Mule at The House of Blues 11.15.2005

Mule in Chief, Warren Haynes

Ah, the Mule. I can’t remember the last time these guys toured, oh wait, it was like four seconds ago. A cursory glance at Government Mule’s website is proof they are a perennial touring machine. The News tab and Tour tab display virtually identical content. There is no news. No drunken car wreck or supermodel marriages. How can there be when you never stop playing? Honestly, I think these guys stand on the roof of their tour bus and play for traffic en route to their next gig. One advantage to nonstop touring is developing cohesion that few bands ever attain. Although they attract twitchy Phish-heads desperate for a noodle fix, the Mule possess a powerful, majestic southern sincerity that leans more toward the grittiness of rock than the kitsch of hippy-dippy.

So wear comfortable shoes, dump a bottle of patchouli on your head and do the hippy freak-out dance until you puke up your psychedelic mushrooms because the versatile Warren Haynes and co. are going to let it rip in the state where the Mule was born.

Article originally appeared in the Orlando Weekly, November 10 ‚ 2005