Even with the rain that hit before the show, that didn’t deter from The Allman Betts Band from making a statement at Batavia Downs this past Friday night. This supergroup of musicians have been together since 2019 and released 2 records since then. In case you didn’t know who is in the group let me tell you. 3 of the artists come from the children of The Allman Brothers Band. They are Devon Allman (son of Gregg), Duane Betts (son of Dickey) and Berry Duane Oakley (son of Berry Oakley). They are joined by guitarist Johnny Stachela, bassist Justin Corgan, keyboardist John Ginty, percussionist/saxophonist David Gomez, and drummers John Lum and Alex Orbison.
The 2 hour and 10 minute set consisted of a lot of original music with some covers mixed in. They went to the ‘Bless your Heart’ album to open things up with in a track called “Magnolia Road.” Allman, Betts and Stachlea were locked and loaded from the get go. Vocals were traded off all evening between Betts and Allman. There wasn’t much said in between songs because there was no need to. They let the music do the talking for the majority of the night. Songs like “Savannah’s Dream” and “Good Ol’ Day’s were just played masterfully and the crowd really enjoyed them. Having the 2 drummers truly gives it that Allman Brothers sound and feel to it especially when the band did do some of their fathers’ music. “Midnight Rider” was just as good as the original and the band closed out their set with a stirring rendition of “Dreams.”
It’s been 5 years since The Allman Betts Band has released any new music but don’t fret. The band is still touring and giving the people what they want. That is bringing their own good dose of southern rock with a splash of Americana mixed in. Of course, they include a few Allman Brothers classics to keep the masses happy.
Setlist:
Magnolia Road
King Crawler
All Night
Savannah’s Dream
Raining Straight Down (Neal Casal cover)
Blue Sky (The Allman Brothers Band cover)
Midnight Rider (The Allman Brothers Band cover)
Ashes of My Lovers
Good Ol’ Days
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (The Allman Brothers Band cover)
Encore:
Shinin’
One Way Out (Sonny Boy Wilkinson cover)
Dreams (The Allman Brothers Band cover)
We would like to thank Mia Gilling of Big Hassle for the credentials to review the show.
