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| Tedeschi Trucks Band @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
It seems hard to believe that it’s been 14 years since married guitarists Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks decided to leave their solo pursuits and join forces in 2010 to focus on making music and touring together. This past weekend, Tedeschi Trucks Band (TTB) pulled their buses into the Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley for Friday and Saturday night shows.
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| Tedeschi Trucks Band @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
They were brought to the stage by 88-year-old entertainment and activist legend Wavy Gravy who asked the crowd “Are you ready to rock and to roll? Me too!” as Tedeschi and Trucks stood slightly back with large grins on their faces. Trucks went into slide guitar immediately, with a wailing swampy version of “Soul Sweet Song” – a 2022 song they wrote about their late band member Kofi Burbridge off their four-part album “I Am the Moon.”
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| Tedeschi Trucks Band @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Tedeschi’s vocals shone bright from the opening song until the encore on the clear Berkeley night. Indeed, Tedeschi was certainly the clearly front of the band as Trucks seemed content to provide most of the heavy guitar lifting from a handful of paces behind her at center stage. Seeing them for only the second time, I found that there was surprisingly little intimacy in the set. They played off each other constantly, but maintained a wider distance than bandmates often do. “Playing With My Emotions” abandoned the sweet and swampy for ferocious guitar-playing as Trucks fired off multiple solos while the full 12-person TTB unleashed its power – nicely fueled by drummers Tyler Greenwell and Isaac Eddy.
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| Tedeschi Trucks Band @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
As the sun fully set on the warm last day of May, a chill quickly took over as Tedeschi noted when she told the crowed “We need to keep you warm here.” A sweet but charging version of “Anyhow” – the opening song of 2016’s “Let Me Get By” followed with Tedeschi vocals well-supported by the three-person horn section. Background vocalist Mike Mattison took over vocal duties on a cover of Chuck Willis’ “I Feel So Bad” to allow Tedeschi to focus on demonstrating her own blues guitar prowess without the vocal requirements.
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| Tedeschi Trucks Band @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Back on the mic, Tedeschi led a haunting, gospel-like version of “It’s So Heavy” from 2013’s “Made Up Mind” with Trucks playing an achingly slow slide to hit all the song’s emotion. It was paired with its album-mate “Idle Wind’ – that saw Trucks laying into a multi-minute slide solo that went from heart-wrenching to soaring. A deeply bluesy cover of the Rolling Stones’ “You Got the Silver” followed with Trucks slide and the backing singers echoing Tedeschi’s deep howling vocals. 2022’s “Circles ‘Round the Sun” followed and was one of only three songs played from TTB’s newest album.
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| Tedeschi Trucks Band @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
True to their style of mixing in covers with their originals, TTB unleased a trio of nicely delivered revisitings of songs with a powerful “Had to Cry Today” (Blind Faith), a super soulful visit to the Aretha Franklin catalog with backing singer Alecia Chakour ably taking the center spotlight for “It Ain’t Fair” and finally keyboardist Gabe Dixon took vocals for Trucks’ Allman Brothers’ “Dreams.” Having other singers take the lead provided nice opportunities for Tedeschi and Trucks to double team on guitar and Tedeschi to show all her well-known playing ability.
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| Tedeschi Trucks Band @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
A huge version of the locomotive-speed “Made Up Mind” led nicely into Tedeschi’s slow and soft “Just Won’t Burn.” Despite its title, the blues number from her solo catalog did indeed burn slow and steady – particularly with Tedeschi’s terrific clean-toned solo. “I Want More” fed into a dazzling dual-drum solo and Jeff Beck’s “Beck’s Bolero” to end the main set.
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| Tedeschi Trucks Band @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
While the music had heated up, the night’s temperature had gone from chilly to cold and Tedeschi was noticeably chilled - blowing on her hands to keep them warm. But as TTB returned for the encore, she leaned into a sweet, joyous version of “La Di Da” off “I Am the Moon.” Finally, they sent everyone home to heat back up from night one with a rousing cover of Joe Cocker’s “High Time We Went.”
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| Little Feat @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Earlier in the night, the early-arriving crowd was treated to an energetic, nearly hour-long set from Little Feat. The band is riding a new album “Sam’s Place” and carried energy that belied their longevity (or perhaps justified it). Much of the crowd was up and dancing throughout their set with songs like “Dixie Chicken” and the all-time classic “Willin’” – where founding keyboardist Billy Payne and mandolin-wielding Fred Tackett shone brightly. Tackett blasted a trumpet intro for a very fun version of Muddy Waters’ “Why Are People Like That” with percussionist Sam Clayton handling the playful lead vocal. The band was a great fit for the opening slot for multi-generational TTB’s audience – allowing some to revisit their past and others to see the history of their elders.
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