October 2024 marks the 10-year anniversary of The Allman Brothers Band’s last-ever concert. To commemorate the milestone, the group’s Peach Records label will release a remastered recording of the entire show as a digital download on October 25, and as a three-CD set on November 22.
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Final Concert 10-28-14 can be pre-ordered and pre-saved now. The CD package will include a 16-page booklet featuring extensive photos and liner notes.
The album captures The Allman Brothers’ three-set performance on October 28, 2014, at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, where the group had been playing hugely popular annual March residencies since 1989. The show was the last of a six-date run the band played at the venue in October 2014.
The gigs featured the group’s final lineup—co-founding singer/keyboardist Gregg Allman, original drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe, guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and percussionist Marc Quinones.
Haynes put together the set list, which featured nearly 30 songs, and included input from all of the band’s members. The set drew from six Allman Brothers, also included some select covers. In addition, the show incorporated tributes the group’s departed founding members, late slide guitarist Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakley Jr., as well as original singer/guitarist Dickey Betts, who’d exited the band in 2000.
The marathon concert wound up being one of the longest shows The Allman Brothers Band ever played.
More About the Last Allmans Show
The concert’s first set began with a snippet of the Duane Allman-penned “Little Martha” played by Haynes and Trucks, which led into a version of the Donovan-inspired “Mountain Jam.”
Gregg’s soulful growl was showcased on such songs as “Not My Cross to Bear,” “Midnight Rider,” and the classic Sonny Boy Williamson cover “One Way Out.” The first set also included a nod to Betts with a rendition of his enduring tune “Blue Sky.”
Set two featured The Allman Brothers’ takes on the blues tunes “Statesboro Blues” and “The Sky Is Crying.” It also featured Gregg’s classic “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” and early gem “Dreams.” The set ended with Betts’ memorable instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” sandwiching a jam featuring Trucks, Jaimoe, Quinones, and Burbridge.
The third set began with a version of Gregg’s tender “Melissa,” and also included an inspired rendition of “Whipping Post.” The band also reprised “Mountain Jam,” incorporating the traditional song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” into the middle of it.
Before the end of the show, Allman, Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe shared thank-you messages with the crowd. Butch then announced, “We’re going to bookend the Allman Brothers Band…end it with the song we started with,” and the group kicked into its version of Muddy Waters’ “Trouble No More.”
The concert ended in the early morning hours of October 29, 2014, marking the 43rd anniversary of Duane Allman’s death.
Quinones Reflects on His Years with the Band, Final Concert
In a statement, Quinones discussed his long tenure with The Allman Brothers while reflecting on that final gig.
“Having joined the Allman Brothers Band in 1991, I had no idea what I was getting myself into as a percussionist joining two drummers on stage,” he noted. “Fast forward 23 years to the last show we played as the Allman Brothers Band. I feel honored to have been part of such a historical musical force that was and is the ABB. Love live the ABB!”
Final Concert 10-28-14 CD Track List:
Disc 1
- “Little Martha”
- “Mountain Jam”
- “Don’t Want You No More”
- “It’s Not My Cross to Bear”
- “One Way Out”
- “Good Morning Little School Girl”
- “Midnight Rider”
- “The High Cost of Low Living”
- “Hot ’Lanta”
- “Blue Sky”
- “You Don’t Love Me/Soul Serenade/You Don’t Love Me”
Disc 2
- “Statesboro Blues”
- “Ain’t Wasting Time”
- “Black Hearted Woman”
- “The Sky Is Crying”
- “Dreams”
- “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’”
- “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”
- “JaMaBuBu”
- “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (Reprise)”
Disc 3
- “Melissa”
- “Revival”
- “Southbound”
- “Mountain Jam Reprise”
- “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”
- “Mountain Jam Reprise 2”
- “Whipping Post”
- “Farewell Message”
- “Trouble No More”
(Photo by Kirk West Photography)
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