Photo: Jay Strausser
On Wednesday, April 30, the second and final day of the Daze Between New Orleans concerts took place at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in the Big Easy. Like the day prior, Soul Brass Band initiated the sonic tapestry, beginning at 2 p.m., weaving nods to funk, R&B, and jazz with the traditional woodwind-driven sound, backed by a community-sparking block party atmosphere.
Inside the 2,200+ capacity venue, jazz fusion favorites The Headhunters were the first group to take the Mahalia Jackson Theater stage on day two of the event. During the band’s performance, they were joined by guitar great Eric Krasno and djembe master Weedie Braumah.
Brass music rang out from the block party after The Headhunters’ stage time and before the arrival of GeoLeo, Meters bandmates, George Porter Jr., and Leo Nocentelli. The pair performed signature songs from their funk-filled heyday with featured aid from Crescent City mainstays, Ivan Neville and Stanton Moore.
Before sunset, with the city cast in gold light, The Allman Betts Band revved up for their two-set delivery with featured help from an expansive list of creatives: Porter Jr., Neville, G. Love, Krasno, Anders Osborne, Sierra Green, and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band horns.
As expected, the performance leaned heavily on Allman Brothers material, with some deviation that shifted the content into related territory. Rather than pull from their father’s songbook, Duane Betts and Devon Allman began with material off 2020 LP, Bless Your Heart, offering “Magnolia Road” and “King Crawler,” before sinking their teeth into fan favorite and ABB-associated cover, “Statesboro Blues.
The arrival of G. Love and Osborne coincided with the band’s performance of “Southbound” before the former took the stage and led the group through his own, “Cold Beverage.” Porter Jr., Neville, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band livened up the night’s rendition of “Midnight Rider,” before Krasno crushed the chords during “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” “Dreams,” and the Sonny Boy Williams original, turned Eat a Peach feature, “One Way Out.”
Set two kept up the calls to Allman Brothers’ history run, with performances of “Don’t Want You No More,” “It’s Not My Cross to Bear,” “Blue Sky,” and “Jessica” representing high points and well-received plays by the packed audience. Eventually, the night found its exit after an Osborne featured “Ramblin’ Man.”
Content shared from relix.com.