What does the son of an Allman Brothers bassist, a late-60s member of The Grateful Dead, and a studio guitar foil for Dickie Betts have in common?
All are members of Live Dead and Brothers, a group that pays tribute to the golden era of psychedelic blues by alternating covers of Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers material from the days when the Fillmore was still wide open on both coasts.
The band’s all-star lineup featured Les Dudek (guitar) from The Allman Brothers Band, original Grateful Dead pianist Tom Constanten, Berry Duane Oakley (bass, vocals) from The Allman Betts Band, Mark Karan (guitar, vocals) from Bob Weir & Rat Dog, Scott Guberman (keyboards, vocals) from Phil Lesh & Friends, and Pete Lavezzoli (drums, vocals) from Oteil and Friends.
The ensemble formed to revive the magic of the Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers Band’s co-billed concerts during the period of 1969 to 1973, and at times, the twin guitar attack made you wonder what kind of supergroup could have been formed had the Dead and the Brothers ever decided to do more than an encore jam together.
The tour, which landed in Albany at Empire Live on Friday, marks the final East Coast run for Tom Constanten, who recently announced his retirement (though he will still compose and play local gigs near his home on the West Coast).
Despite some canceled tour dates due to a health concern earlier this summer, all of the band members looked pretty good. Considering their collective road mileage, the music sounded young and fresh too.
Karan, Oakley Jr, Guberman, and Lavezzoli alternated vocal responsibilities, but it was the dueling guitars of Karan and studio legend Les Dudek that really stole the show. Karan played a Les Paul Goldtop for most of the night, channeling the recently departed Dickie Betts, while Dudek’s custom Strat served as a perfect compliment.
Particularly on the Allman Brothers tunes, where Dudek pulled out his glass slide to play those buttery Duane-leads, the band was firing on all cylinders. And where their vocal harmonies left something to be desired at times, the twin guitar harmonies on songs like “Blue Sky” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” was Southern Rock personified.
At times, the two drum approach of both legendary bands was noticeably missing, but Lavezzoli often nailed the swing style of Billy the Drummer, and his impassioned singing on “Stormy Monday” was the best vocal performance of the night. He also crushed his role as Jerry-ballad leader on “High Time”.
Oakley also turned in a yeoman’s performance, holding down the low end and taking lead vocals on songs like “One Way Out”, a superb “Blue Sky”, and “Statesboro Blues”.
While it was the Allmans songs that shined brightest, the group got the heavily tie dyed (alebit modest in size) crowd twirling on a “China>Rider” medley where Karan impressively played both the Weir and Garcia parts.
And if dueling guitars weren’t enough, there were also dueling pianos, or, dueling Nords to be specific. Guberman handled Gregg and Brent-style organ sounds on his Nord Electro 4 and TC did his noodling on a Nord Stage 3. Constanten was erudite as ever with his playful counterpoint lines, though somewhat buried in the mix. That said, the sound in the club was relatively excellent, reminding this listener of what an improvement the Empire Live sound is over the muddy strip mall sound of predecessor clubs Northern Lights and Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park.
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After a brief intermission, the band’s second set leaned hard on Europe ‘72 numbers by the Dead (including a touching “He’s Gone” which reminded me of TC’s advancing age and the many Brothers and Sisters these road warriors have lost).
But it was the Allman’s instrumental “Jessica” that garnered the biggest crowd reaction of the night. Dudek, who played on the original recording of the track, handled the slide masterfully, and Guberman channeled Chuck Leavell in his best solo of the evening.
“Jessica” has always been a great road song, and was even used as a needle drop in a scene in the movie Field of Dreams when former hippie Ray Kinsella hits the open road in his VW bus. In other words, it makes sense that these longtime sidemen, after years of touring, have their chance to take center stage with a tune that’s helped so many music fans make it down the road another few miles, headed for the next show. 
While they weren’t “Truckin’ up to Buffalo” the band did come into Albany from a show in Buffalo on Thursday, and of course they played “Truckin’” too. On a night that was a little short on extended jams save for “The Other One”, and the second-set closer “Elizabeth Reed”, a long coda on “Truckin’” got a little weird and was one of my favorite instrumental moments (particularly when they teased Donovan’s “Mountain Jam” riff).
Hearing “Jessica” and “Truckin’” into “Mountain Jam” was kind of like living out some kind of dream from my youth. I used to alternate a cassette copy of Skeletons in the Closet and The Best of The Allman Brothers’ back in the days when I could only afford to own a few albums and cassettes instead of the basement-full I have now. And in those days I knew every note on those cassettes and played them until one of them got stuck in the deck. Or, maybe my tapes got melted on a hot summer day when the sun ruined my collection, boiling the plastic cases through the hatchback of my 1990 Ford Probe. In short, alternating Allmans and Dead material took me back to a place,and I could tell it took others in the audience even even further back in time. It also made for one heck of a fun night out.
Here’s wishing Tom Constanten well on this last leg of his Long Strange Trip. Live Dead and Brothers has a number of tour dates through mid-October and three more dates in New York State in Bethel, Canandaigua, and Syracuse that are well-worth seeking out if you want to wish TC an East Coast farewell.
Live Dead and Brothers Setlist; Empire Live Albany, 9/27/2024
Set 1: Turn on Your Lovelight, One Way Out, Hurts Me Too, Blue Sky, Bertha, Stormy Monday, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, High Time, Hot Lanta
Set 2: Hard to Handle, Statesboro Blues, Tennessee Jed, Jessica, He’s Gone, Truckin’ (w/outro jam & “Mountain Jam” tease), Spoonful, Dreams, The Other One, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
Encore: Ramblin’ Man – Les Dudek on vocals for the only time all night!
