The Allman Brothers Band

Always acclaimed for their explosive live shows, the ABB really ratcheted up the intensity and focus on January 31st. After hammering tightly through the reliable first four, the ABB placed “Midnight Rider” back into the rotation, and then Berry Oakley stepped up to the mic for a wicked and nasty take on “Hoochie Coochie Man,” with Jaimoe and Butch churning full-bore behind him. After an extensive workout on “You Don’t Love Me,” the group worked a relatively new song into the set, “Hot ‘Lanta.” Conceived out of a loose jam at the Big House in Macon, GA, the band’s home base currently an ABB museum, this group composition was cutting-edge fusion, displaying the delightful musical diversity of the Allman Brothers Band. A superior “Whipping Post” concludes the Fillmore West material, but Disc Four goes on to include a wonderful bonus track: a March, 1970 version of “Mountain Jam” from the Warehouse in New Orleans which-at 45 minutes long!-showcases a band that loved to improvise and let the music take on a life of its own.