TTB in the city

Life is full of surprises. Sometimes, they are actually good! When Loyal Alum Hild reached out last Friday morning with the seemingly spontaneous and random thought of going to see the Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Beacon Theatre in NYC on Saturday night, my first default thought was, “nah, too far, too late, probably should just chill at home.” But then I thought more about this. An off weekend. Not a ton going on. TTB is the one band I had yet to see and I have longed to see, and with good reason: They are considered one of the finest live music acts out there. Hild offered to drive me. Yes, that’s boldface, for sure. There was no reason not to go, and so we went. Oh man oh man oh MAN. From the first song to the last, this was, in fact, one of the finest – if not the absolute best – live shows I’ve ever seen. TTB packs a wallop of full sound: three-piece horn section, soulful, three-person back-up vocalists, two killer drummers, a surprisingly incredible keyboard player, solid bass, and of course the stars – guitar wizard Derek Trucks and his soulful singing and guitar slinging wife, Susan Tedeschi. Wow, wow, WOW! What could top this? TTB likes to invite “special guests” … and at the end of the show, the last of their multi-night run at the Beacon, none other than my all-time favorite, Warren Haynes, strolled onto the stage and jammed and sang and did his thing. Best show ever? Pretty damn close. Sometimes, surprises are excellent. Thanks to Hild for doing it all – he was in town for a wedding the next day, so it was a good way to see a great show for him, and he was a brother to drive the old man both ways. Highly, highly neat!