Gov’ Mule, photo by Stuart Levine

Last night, Aug. 27, Gov’t Mule rolled into Milwaukee to set off their Back in the Saddle Tour, crossing the country with a total of 25 dates through Oct. 28. For their kickoff performance at the Aurora Pavilion, the venerable blues-rock quartet helmed by Warren Haynes offered a towering two-set showcase of the band’s greatest hits through the year, heavy on covers of their stylistic forebearers and complete with a couple of first 2025 treatments.

Gov’t Mule tore into their tour opener on Wednesday night with their well-honed cover of Son House’s stormy Delta blues essential “Grinning in Your Face,” appearing for the first time this year with regular appearances dating back to 1995. From this potent introduction, frontman and guitarist Haynes led his faithful collaborators–keyboardist Danny Louis, bassist Kevin Scott and substitute drummer Terence Higgins–into “Mule,” the enduring eponymous live staple from their self-titled studio debut.

Higgins, who currently serves as the backbeat for the Warren Haynes Band and is holding down founding drummer Matt Abts’ seat for the remainder of Gov’t Mule’s fall tour, proved an able complement to the virtuosic outfit in the rest of the first set. An exhilarating progression through the tried and true jam sequences “Game Face” → “Mountain Jam” → “Game Face” and “Snatch It Back and Hold It” → “Hold It Back” → “Snatch It Back and Hold It” arrived as a gauntlet, tossing the newcomer into the deep end to prime him for the road ahead.

Gov’t Mule rounded out their first frame with a soulful, howling closer of Ann Peebles’ “I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home Tonight,” in the heavy electric blues style of the great Albert King. The band returned for their second set with signatures “Soulshine” and “Larger than Life,” then lit up The Band’s “Stage Fright,” which has been a recurring tribute since January to the late, great Garth Hudson. After “Captured,” they dropped into the pummeling funk of The J.B.’s “Doing It to Death,” a longtime fan favorite that memorably figured into their unforgettable Sco-Mule collaborative album with John Scofield. 2025’s first “World Boss” and a set closing “Mr. Man” led the group to a grand finale of Phil Lesh & Friends’ “Patchwork Quilt.”

Gov’t Mule will return to the stage tonight at Columbus, Ohio’s KEMBA Live! Find tickets and more information on the group’s full tour at mule.net.

Read the full setlist from Wednesday night below.