You Cant Spell Mullet without Mule

Mrs. Village Idiot and I went to see Gov't Mule in concert last Thursday night and the resulting loss of sleep, albeit only slight, still has me cranky. The Village Idiot is old. Soon I'll be wearing my pants just under my armpits.

Gov't Mule, for those of you who don't know, is a great band featuring guitarist extraordinaire Warren Haynes. Mr. Haynes, in addition to playing with the Mule, plays with the Allman Brothers and occasionally with the Dead. He is absolutely fantastic on guitar and is also a talented singer. He is also a poster boy for the "Body by Cheetos" lifestyle.


The 1980s is often hailed as the very apex of achievement with regard to rock star hair styling. Bands from the '80s came to be known as "hair bands" and people were said to be sporting "arena hair". After watching Warren cut it up, though, I've decided that there is a far more powerful force in the rock world; Allman Hair.

Think about it, all those Southern Rockers have kept the same awful hairstyle since the late sixties, and Mr. Warren Haynes sports the Allman hair beautifully. Warren's hair has what I like to call a Van Zant Wave, named in honor of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant. (Might I also note here that Mr. Haynes has a guitar tech who looks almost exactly like him, right down to the Van Zant). Allman hair has outlived all the great rock and roll hairstyles: the duck-tail, the pompador, mod hair, white men with afros, arena hair, and all the rest. Allman hair is the great rock and roll hairstyle, and Gov't Mule brings it to the people along with a solid dose of kick-ass rock and roll.

To honor the tradition, the Village Idiot is contemplating growing a classic Allman, which is to say I'll just let it grow until my wife shoots me.

The Village Idiot With Rock Star Hair

The show itself was great. Mrs. Village Idiot was a little testy, what with the fact that I told a couple of fibs to get her there. (I told her that the band doesn't jam much anymore, and that since they play mostly covers she'd know a lot of the songs. I also told her that under no circumstances would Warren play any Allman Brothers songs, because for some strange reason Mrs. Idiot hates the Allmans and their jammy ways). (It was, as I said, a thin carpet of lies on the dancefloor of our evening).

(Actually, she admitted that she liked Gov't Mule and said she'd go see them again, though probably only with her next husband. I can understand this, because The Mule did happen to play a substantial portion of the Allman Brothers' Mountain Jam, which is kind of jammy, in the middle of one of the jams in one of Mule's own original songs). (Yes, I am that big an idiot. They proved me a liar three times with one song).

(I was able to partially buy my way back into her good graces by introducing her to the peanut-butter deliciousness of Drake's Funny Bones snack cakes on the way home. Guys, I can't underestimate the power of Drake and Hostess products as serious tools in the building of a solid marriage. Of course, this comes from a guy who told his wife that Gov't Mule isn't really a jam band).

Setlist:

Blind Man In The Dark
Thorazine Shuffle
Temporary Saint
Patchwork Quilt
Banks Of The Deep End
Game Face->
Mountain Jam->
Game Face Reprise
Little Toy Brain
Perfect Shelter
Wandering Child
Just Got Paid
Fallen->
Other One Jam->
Bad Man Walking
Trouble Everyday->
Drums->
Worried Down With The Blues->
Slackjaw Jezabel

30 Days In The Hole
New World Blues

If you get a chance, go see Gov't Mule. They absolutely rock.