Gov’t Mule at Uptown was messy in all the right ways

1 hour ago

Allison Scavo,

Gov’t Mule. // photo by Allison Scavo

Gov’t Mule
with Larkin Poe
Uptown Theater
Tuesday, April 14

Jammy Southern rockers Gov’t Mule came out with “Bad Little Doggie” and immediately set the tone for a night of blues, Kansas City style. They wasted no time getting loud with “Mr. Man” with that thick, swampy groove they do better than almost anyone. “Lay Your Burden Down” had something heavier and more spiritual behind it, something communal that lit the whole place at once.

At one point, frontman Haynes said, “You can’t go to Kansas City without playing the blues,” after asking what we wanted for an encore, and that mission statement was leaned into with gritty, lived-in blues. Teasing the encore with little riffs, false starts, hints of what might be coming, pulling us along until the payoff landed on “Come On in My Kitchen,” a Robert Johnson original.

By the end, it didn’t feel like a setlist you could write down and analyze. It was something you had to be there for. Messy in the right ways, intentional without being rigid, and rooted in a blues tradition that still sounds dangerous when they play it.

Kansas City shows can blur together if you go to enough of them. This one was not one of those.

Larkin Poe. // photo by Allison Scavo

Nashville’s Larkin Poe, named after the fourth great-grandfather (and distant cousin of Edgar Allen Poe) of sisters Megan and Rebecca Lovell from Nashville, hit the stage at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City like they had something to prove, even though they really don’t at this point (1.6 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok?! They have nothing to prove).

From the first song, it was energetic, soulful, and unapologetically bluesy. With Rebecca on guitar (who had her 8-month-old with her!) and Megan on lap steel, the harmonies were as in sync as their sibling connection. Rebecca’s gritty Southern bite and Megan’s pulsing lap steel added an almost vocal layer that complemented the lyrics.

Opening for Gov’t Mule can be a tough spot, especially for the first time on the tour, with a crowd ready for long jams on familiar songs, but Larkin Poe showed up and showed out. By the time they walked off, it didn’t feel like an opening set anymore. It felt like they’d made their case and earned a standing ovation.

All photos by Allison Scavo

Gov’t Mule

Gov’t Mule setlist
Bad Little Doggie
Mr. Man
Lay Your Burden Down
Birth of the Mule (with “Sco-Mule” tease)
Banks of the Deep End
Peace I Need
The River Only Flows One Way
Same as It Ever Was
Doing It to Death (The J.B.’s cover)
Wake Up Dead
Snatch It Back and Hold It / Hold It Back / Snatch It Back and Hold It
Fallen Down
(>)
The Other One (Grateful Dead cover) (with “Gimme Shelter” ending)
Funny Little Tragedy
Mule (with “Hottentot” tease)
—
Come On in My Kitchen (Robert Johnson cover)
Gonna Send You Back To Georgia