Gov’t Mule performed at the Red Butte Garden & Arboretum Outdoor Concert Series on August 20, 2026. The university’s sprawling season is winding down, but make no mistake: these are some of the best nights to see music outside, especially as temperatures drop. (Bonnie Raitt and Brandon Flowers are sold out, but tickets still remain for National Parks, The Record Company w/ Cracker, and The Revitalists.)
To paraphrase an Instagram post I saw the day after being in awe of Warren Haynes and the rest of his powerhouse band, it said we’re real lucky to be alive at this long moment of time, if only to witness that Haynes is the greatest guitar player still doing it. After seeing the band play a couple long drawn-out sets, I’m inclined to hop on board and piggyback on that comment. If there was a single tune without a guitar solo attached all night, I missed it. And it sounded divine. There was as much hair blowing up front (courtesy of Mr. Haynes and an impossibly steady blowing breeze) as there were dropped jaws and deeply satisfied fans down below.
Photos by Paul Montano. IG: @montanophoto
Did we get “Soulshine” at the tail end, the only encore that would have made any sense? And did it sound like The Allman Brothers, Part Deux? Emphatic yesses to both. If you’d never seen those Brothers do their thing, it felt like we heard the next greatest incarnation at Red Butte. But there were also incredible covers — Al Green, The J.B.’s, Willie Dixon — including a fiery take on Joe Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way” that felt truly inspired. Other favorites in their grab bag of 20: “Time to Confess,” “After The Storm,” and “Wake Up Dead.”
Come for the guitar, and stay for that warm and chugging organ (Danny Louis is a dynamo). Gov’t Mule came, they played, we grooved. A solid night, beginning to end.
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