Gov't Mule stays true to itself, for a change

Beyond an always ferocious, soul-stirring approach to guitar mastery, there's one thing longtime devotees of Gov't Mule and Warren Haynes have come to expect: the unexpected. Whatever twists are possible, Haynes will make them. The Southern-fried bluesman and his tactile, roaring quartet Gov't Mule give fans shows whose second sets ripple with cover versions. Most recently, whole sets of AC/DC and Neil Young songs have speckled their set list.

Friday at Upper Darby's Tower Theater, the Mule stuffed songs by Tom Waits, Little Feat, the Bee Gees, Steppenwolf into that night's catalog. But on Saturday, the shock came when it stuck mostly to its own torrid tunes with a smattering of Haynes-related tracks (his graciously emotional solo reverie "If Heartaches Were Nickels," segueing into the slow organ roll of "Dreams" signifying his time with the Allman Brothers), a single Grateful Dead cut (an exquisitely fluid "The Other One"), a fleeting few R&B classics from Al Green and Bill Withers, a growling vocal take on the Beatles' "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window," and a tenderly plucked acoustic version of George Harrison's "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)."

Playing fewer covers refocused what Gov't Mule does best: tightly improvisational music that gleans from the band's influences, then churns it into a furiously grooving whole. The dirty boogie of "Rocking Horse," the hard-driving, chunky Southern soul of "Mr. Man," and the open-faced psychedelia of "Steppin' Lightly" set up the crowd for a solid jam.

By the second set though, what Gov't Mule was ready for was Haynes' chance to shine as a vocalist, as he did on the warmly haunting romantic dirge "Forevermore" and the gutsy "Child of the Earth."

Fellow Mules Matt Abts (drums, percussion), Danny Louis (organ), and Jorgen Carlsson (bass) did their usual unlevelheaded best to barnstorm through Haynes' densest melodies. Saxophonist Bill Evans, whose Soulgrass ensemble bumped and ground its way through an opening set of hillbilly-infused R&B, leapt into the fray and made his moments on stage something King Curtis-like and blustery.