Photo: Rich Fury

The Brothers returned to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, April 16, for the second and final live performance in a two-night, venue-specific series honoring the music of The Allman Brothers Band. 

The two-set delivery featured run-throughs of originals, associated covers and material synonymous with Southern rock veterans, performed by a seismic group of musical purveyors: Jaimoe, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, Marc Quiñones, Joe Russo, Reese Wynans, Isaac Eady, and special guest Chuck Leavell. 

The concert began with preparatory strums signaling the onset of The Brothers’ show. They were swiftly met by the percussive might of Jaimoe, Russo, and Quiñones, accompanied by the entrance of guitarists Haynes and Trucks, who played the Spencer Davis Group original, “Don’t Want You No More,” a feature off ABB’s 1969 debut album. 

The jumping off point proved valiant and ushered in a second pull from ABB’s initial album. Following the tracklist order, “It’s Not My Cross to Bear” arrived. The bluesy Eddie Kirkland-penned inclusion from the original band’s classic live set, At Fillmore East, “Done Somebody Wrong,” emerged in the night’s third slot, ahead of the Dickey Betts-penned “Revival.” 

The group swung back to ABB’s debut set, striking the groove on “Every Hungry Woman” before Gregg Allman scribed “Dreams.” Next, Haynes reprised his early ‘90s connection to “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” and carved out space for his own Allman contribution, the beloved “Soulshine,” which doubled as the onset of Leavell’s first set appearance. The keyboardist stuck around for Eat A Peach follow-up, “Stand Back.”

Trucks seized the hold of “Desdemona,” building upon the composition with authoritative impact. The group closed their first set in the same fashion as night one, exiting after the child-like wonder elicited on the instrumental, “Jessica.” To the thrill of the audience, the gig picked up on fan favorite “Melissa,” capped with “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’.” 

Chart-reaching “No One to Run With” saw a similar interplay from Haynes and Trucks as captured on the 2004 release live LP, One Way Out. Fittingly, they went with the aforementioned titled track next, generating a connection between players and outputs. The latter half of the second set included Leavell, who hammered the keys on an esteemed sequence of songs: “Midnight Rider,” “Good Morning, School Girl,” “Blue Sky,” “Les Brers in A Minor,” and a frame ending “Southbound.”

Like night one, they returned to the stage for the encore, a searing display of “Whipping Post.” For those who missed the event, both concerts can be viewed on nugs.net.

The Brothers 

Madison Square Garden – New York 

April 16, 2025

Set I: Don’t Want You No More, It’s Not My Cross to Bear, I Must Have Done Somebody Wrong, Revival, Every Hungry Woman, Dreams, I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man, Soulshine+, Stand Back+, Desdemona+, Jessica+

Set II: Melissa, Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’, No One to Run With, One Way Out, Midnight Rider+, Good Morning, School Girl+, Blue Sky+, Les Brers in A Minor+, Southbound+

Enc.: Whipping Post+

Notes: 

+ With Chuck Leavell