Immediately upon walking into the Greek Theatre, there was so much tie dye you would have thought it was a Dead show. But no: on June 7th, the 12-person blues rock group Tedeschi Trucks Band took the stage of the Greek, backdropped by a hazy sunset. As I got my bearings of the amphitheater, I was asked by multiple groups of tipsy middle-aged folks to take photos of them with their friends they had just ran into. This energy of love and community pervaded the entire night from start to finish.
At promptly 8:30PM, Tedeschi Trucks Band took the stage. The group formed in 2010 and is led by married couple Susan Tedeschi on vocals and guitar and Derek Trucks on guitar. Their music uniquely fuses rock, blues, jazz, and a hint of country; it’s the music my parents played me growing up that I’ve rediscovered in my college years with a newfound sense of appreciation and awe. No performance by Tedeschi is ever the same, as four-minute songs turn into 12-minute jams, which somehow melt into Led Zeppelin covers. The group is currently embarking on their annual summer amphitheater tour, where they will be heading to renowned theaters such as Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
In addition to Derek and Susan, Tedeschi Trucks Band is comprised of Mike Mattison on guitar and vocals, Gabe Dixon on keys and vocals, Brandon Boone on bass, Tyler Greenwell and Isaac Eady on drums and percussion, Mark Rivers and Alecia Chakour on vocals, Kebbi Williams on sax, Ephraim Owens on trumpet, and Elizabeth Lea on trombone. The list of members may be a mouthful, but to truly experience Tedeschi Trucks necessitates the simultaneous appreciation of each sonic element, while allowing all of them to meld together in a wholehearted expression of spirit. The Greek provided the perfect infrastructure to highlight each of the members as they moved through their setlist. What really stuck out to me is the reverence that each of the band members gave each other, turning to admire Rivers as he took center stage for a vocal solo or Williams and he filled the air with an impossibly intricate, yet seemingly effortless, sax solo.
Ultimately, Tedeschi Trucks’ music embodies a mosaic of soul and compassion, abundant with trust and joy. The band started the night with “Playing With My Emotions” from their 2022 album “I Am the Moon.” Susan Tedeschi’s voice is reminiscent of Janis Joplin’s aching and gritty sound, but with a bluesy twist. The song begins with instrumental purity, as Tedeschi’s voice and Trucks’ impressive guitar licks took the center stage. As many of TTB’s song’s go, the tune gradually crescendos into a 12-part musical worship, with each sound perfectly balanced (their sound tech was God-like). Listening to a Tedeschi Trucks song is to put together a complex mosaic of interwoven sounds; to see them perform live is to be able to visually put each of the puzzle pieces together as each group member showcased their musical mastery. The one puzzle piece that remained indecipherable to an onlooker was not physical, but energetic. Trucks and Tedeschi’s guitars seemed to speak to each other in a language only they could comprehend, while the rest of the band seemed to communicate through a form of telepathy. On a 60-foot wide stage, the 12-person band maintained the chemistry of an intimate jam session. After one of Derek Trucks’ signature slide solos guided the song to a conclusion, the Greek’s crowd erupted in applause as a crowd member shouted, “y’all fucking rock.”
Another highlight from their set was their rendition of “Midnight in Harlem,” one of the first Tedeschi songs I ever heard. Like many of Tedeschi Trucks’ songs, “Midnight in Harlem” took the crowd down a winding road of emotions and musical bliss, abounding in solos from the brass section and more of Truck’s slide solos that truly never seem to get old.
In addition to a plethora of originals, Tedeschi peppered some covers into their two-hour long set. Standouts included John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” and Grateful Dead’s “Sugaree.” The band effortlessly fused their unique style into each of these songs, rendering them completely their own. Throughout the entire set, Derek and Susan looked at each other with a tangible sense of love and gratitude; in my mind, I imagined them thinking, “damn, my husband/wife shreds.”
In a modern musical climate dominated by overproduction, experiencing Tedeschi Trucks at the Greek was a refreshing taste of musical integrity, a reminder to listen to more of the music that my parents showed me, and further inspiration to pick up a slide (it’ll happen one of these days).
