February 13, 2020
The Allman Betts Band gave a receptive audience a night of rock Americana with songs sounding similar but different from their forefathers at the Garde Arts Theater in New London, CT. Their pedigree cannot be denied as the sons of Allmans, Betts and Oakley. Their fathers are southern rock legends and now the sons have picked up the torch and continue on the tradition.
The Allman Betts Band includes Devon Allman, Duane Betts, Berry Oakley, Jr. on bass, Johnny Stachela on slide guitar, John Ginty on Hammond B3 and percussionists R. Scott Bryan and John Lum.
They began with “Airboats ‘n Cocaine.” Betts and Allman share the lead singing in harmony on this Southern rocker. Ginty gaves a piano solo and Stachela solos on slide guitar as while images of airboats and cash play on the screen behind them.
Betts left the stage to for Devon Allman’s of Honeytribe’s “Mahalo.” Ginty joined in with an organ solo that left the crowd cheering.
Their performances showcased new music, songs from their solo projects, along with covers of other artists. They also performed a couple of Allman Brothers songs which was fitting of their roots. They give tribute but don’t rely solely on covers of their fathers’ songs.
Betts returned for “All Night.” This is followed by title track from The Allman Betts Band’s 2019 debut recording, “Down to the River.”
They finished up the set with “Long Gone.” one of the first songs created together by Allman and Betts.
The night ended with an encore of the song “Dreams.”
There were two guest opener bands each playing for about half an hour. The first was Jackson Stokes.
He has recently signed onto Devon Allman’s new record label, Create Records, and shows promise as an up and coming act. Featuring guitarist and vocalist Jackson Stokes, the group also includes keyboardist Ryan Benthall, bassist Paul Brackens, and drummer Ben Bicklein. They gave the crowd high-energy performance which had them cheering.
With guest opener JD Simo. JD Simo provided a retro sounding hard driving intro.
The 3 piece grouping put out major sound. JD Simo was on guitar, Andraleia Buch on bass and Adam Abrashoff on drums. Simo and the band had the audience right with them from the first notes. Simo showed his prowess on the guitar by flying through complex riffs with ease, confidence, great humor, and short demonstrations of the sounds that formed his love of guitar. He had a wonderful interaction with the audience and I really like his cover of “With A Little Help From My Friends,” Joe Cocker version.
They all gave a great performances and it was nice to see Allman, Betts and Oakley step up and continue what many remember as a long tradition of classic southern rock music. Their fathers would be proud of the heritage they continue to bring forward as well as the new music they are creating together. The audience left happy and satisfied with the evening.
https://www.allmanbettsband.com
Review by Donna Erichsen
Photos by George Bekris
