Warren Haynes Band: Live at the Moody Theater

Warren Haynes Band
Live at the Moody Theater
(Stax/Concord)
[Rating: 4 stars]

This double CD/DVD set delivers the three hour/two set show Haynes and his soul band performed in Austin on their recent tour. Not surprisingly, his R&B album Man in Motion is heavily represented with all but one of its 10 tunes performed in tough, tight and extended versions that leave plenty of room for Haynes’ guitar and veteran saxist Ron Holloway to wail away. The 13 minute version of Steely Dan’s “Pretzel Logic,” a gutsy reading of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” and a rearranged take on Hendrix’s “Spanish Castle Magic” flesh out the set which is also augmented by a new reggae tune co-written by Haynes and Ziggy Marley and a revamped Gov’t Mule track. It’s a consistently rousing performance, beautifully captured on the DVD and occasionally enhanced by a three piece horn section along with ex-Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan. It shows Haynes to be as expert a blue-eyed soul singer/songwriter as he is bluesman with the Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule hard rocker and sporadic Grateful Dead sideman.