If you closed your eyes at the Rex Theater Saturday evening, you virtually thought the Allman Brothers Band was playing live, right for you.
Remember The Allman Brothers Band (1969—2014)? One of seven marriages, Greg Allman*, organ and vocals, married Cher for nine days in 1975? (Wrong! They reconciled twice, once after learning she was pregnant with son Elijah Blue, and they finally divorced in 1978.**) Or brother Duane, guitar and slide guitars, who was killed in a 1971 motorcycle accident, followed by a similar accident and death of band member, Berry Oakley, a year later?
But enough of the original band. Idlewild: A Celebration of The Allman Brothers Band was as perfect to the Allmans as any band could be, to the delight of a near-capacity house.
Not to be referred to as a “tribute band,” Idlewild truly celebrated the Allman Brothers Band and their Southern rock music from that band’s beginnings in 1969.
Idlewild members, native to the Maine/New Hampshire Seacoast, is comprised of Andrew Edmondson and Bobby O’Neill, sharing the band’s dual-lead guitar duties, Max Chase on Hammond Organ, piano, and vocals, Joe Plante on bass and vocals, Adam Vinciguerra on auxiliary percussion and vocals, and dual drumming duties shared by Nick Baldoumas and Brandon Hill. ***
With a setlist that changes each performance, Saturday featured a two-part, intermissioned show:
Part 1: Blue Sky, Come & Go Blues, Hoochie Coochie Man, Wasted Words, End Of The Line, Dreams
Part 2: Statesboro Blues, One Way Out, Stormy Monday, Soulshine, Black-Hearted Woman
Encore: Midnight Rider****
Missed them in Manchester? They are appearing at LaBelle Winery Derry on February 17, 7 p.m.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Allman
** https://ew.com/article/1992/07/10/gregg-allman-and-chers-troubled-marriage/
*** https://www.portsmouthnh.com/event/idlewild-a-celebration-of-the-allman-brothers-band/
**** Did you know you can find setlists for a particular band and see what they’ve played in recent concerts at https://www.setlist.fm and other sites?
Quick story: I managed to grab Bob Dylan tickets last year (who doesn’t want to see Bob Dylan?) and when I went to see the songs he had been playing at recent concerts, I only recognized one song. We know every artist wants to play only their well-known songs from years ago concert after concert, right?! (Okay, maybe that’s true for the Rolling Stones, but most other artists grow their catalog over the decades, and we only connect with those songs that saw us through particular times in our lives)
Ultimately, I sold the tickets and didn’t attend the concert, for which I am glad.
