Written by: Geoff Tischman

I’ve been a fan of the Warren Haynes band for 35-plus years and I have an extensive tape collection of live recordings to prove it.

In the early ’90s as a Rutgers university student I spent more time seeing the WHB and other bands in the clubs than I did in class.

Haynes is the first musician I idolized; to me his guitar playing, songwriting and distinctive voice makes him a cut above his peers. To this day, I still have to pinch myself anytime I find myself in the photo pit with Haynes standing in front of my lens. It’s always a reminder to me of how lucky I am to do what I do!

The Warren Haynes Band’s gig at the Capitol theatre in early March (3/6) met and far exceeded my expectations, which are always high.

But Haynes always delivers and in this case overdelivers.  This current lineup of the band is as good as any, with newly minted Gov’t Bassist Kevin Scott, Matt Slocum on keys, and Terrence Higgins on drums.

With a deep bench like this, there wasn’t any downtime for a bathroom break as both sets cooked.

The band played mix of songs from his Haynes’ new album Million Voices Whisper including “This Life As We Know It” and “Real, Real Love” with older WHB and some great covers including numbers by Steely Dan (“Pretzel Logic”) and Van Morrison (“I’ve Been Working”).

A soulful, bluesy night that was an endless joy.

I loved every second.