With the passing last year of Dickey Betts, combined with the deaths in the last decade of Gregg Allman and Butch Trucks, tributes to the Allman Brothers Band have taken on a new poignancy. And one of the most highly regarded of those will return to New York’s Madison Square Garden next month.
On April 15 and 16, the Brothers, comprised of former Allmans band members and associates, will play a return engagement five years after their first (and only) show at that venue. The band includes original Allmans drummer Jaimoe and is fronted by guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, bassist Oteil Burbridge (now in Dead & Co.), and percussionist Marc Quiñones , all of whom were Allmans band members at various points starting in the Eighties and Nineties.
For this show, the Brothers will also include keyboardist Reese Wynans, drummers Joe Russo and Isaac Eady, and special guest Chuck Leavell, the pianist who was an Allmans band member in the Seventies.
The Brothers first played the Garden in 2020, just a few days before the concert business and the world went into lockdown, but haven’t played a show since. This reunion was prompted by last year’s “Soulshine” hurricane benefit at the Garden, where Haynes and Trucks reunited to play “Whipping Post.” The new show is promising “hits and rarities” from throughout the Allmans’ catalog.
Although they also perform intermittently at best, the Brothers are one of several outfits that continue to fly the Allmans flag. The Allman Betts Band, featuring Dickey’s son Duane and Gregg’s son Devon, plays originals but routinely devote entire sets to ABB material. Friends of the Brothers — fronted by guitarist and singer Junior Mack, guitarist Andy Aledort, and guitarist (and Allmans biographer) Alan Paul — also explores the repertoire. (At a New York show last week, they were joined by Jaimoe, who has frequently sat in with them.) And that’s not forgetting Trouble No More, an authorized tribute band featuring guitarist (and School of Rock movie star) Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, and Lamar William, Jr., son of the late Allmans bass player, which also performs periodically.
Pre-sale tickets go on sale Feb. 12, but fans must register in advance at www.thebrothersmsg.com. A public onsale is set for Feb. 14.