Tedeschi Trucks Band Play 50th Beacon Show With Surprise Guest Hot Tuna

On Monday October 3rd, Tedeschi Trucks Band played their landmark 50th show at The Beacon Theatre with Hot Tuna opening as a special surprise guest. Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassady also joined the band later in the evening for a performance of Janis Joplin’s “Turtle Blues” as well as Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”

There was speculation online by fans earlier in the week as to who the “special guest” was going to be. It remained a well kept secret until the moment it was announced at the start of the show. The crowd erupted as Hot Tuna made their way to the stage as the unannounced opening act for Tedeschi and Trucks. They played an acoustic nine song set filled with covers as well as some original Tuna songs.

The first two songs of their set, “Don’t You Leave Me Here (Dime For Beer)” and “Hesitation Blues” were featured on their debut self-titled live album from 1970. That was followed by Reverend Gary Davis’s “Let Us Get Together Right Down Here” and a Richard M. Jones cover of “Trouble in Mind.” Other songs included a cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “Good Shepherd” and “Day to Day Out the Window Blues” before ending their set with Jesse Fuller’s “San Francisco Bay Blues.”

Tedeschi Trucks took the stage around 8:45 and started their set with “Don’t Let Me Slide” from their 2011 debut album Revelator. This also happens to be the first song they ever played at The Beacon Theatre when they performed their first show there in 2011. The second song of their set was “All That I Need” from the band’s second album Made Up Mind released in 2013. They continued with “Laugh About It” and “Signs” before digging into their I Am the Moon: I. Crescent set.

I Am the Moon is the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s newest project. It is a series of four new albums along with four corresponding films made during the Covid lockdown. They have been working the albums into their shows during this current Beacon run. Thursday’s show featured I Am the Moon: III. The Fall while Friday’s show included I Am the Moon: IV. Farewell. Saturday’s crowd got to hear I Am the Moon: II. Ascension saving I Am the Moon: I. Crescent for their 50th Beacon show on Monday night.

Mike Mattison sang lead vocals on “Fall In” which then led into the title track of the project. After that was “Circles ‘Round the Sun” featuring Kebbi Williams on saxophone. For the final song of the album, “Pasaquan” most of the band left the stage leaving just Derek, keyboardist Gabe Dixon, bassist Brandon Boone and the two drummers Tyler Greenwell and Isaac Eady for this captivating twenty two minute rendition of the song.

Another highlight of the show was a cover of “Keep On Growing” by Derek and the Dominos. It was only fitting that an Allman Brothers song be included in this special Beacon show. Derek and Susan absolutely killed it on a “Whipping Post” before leaving the stage to a standing ovation. The encore featured two songs from I Am the Moon IV. Farewell, “Another Day” and “Soul Sweet Song.” The band then honored Leon Russell ending the show with a cover of “Space Captain” from Matthew Moore.

Setlist: Don’t Let Me Slide, All That I Need, Laugh About It, Signs, High Times, Hear My Dear, Fall In, I Am the Moon, Circles ‘Round the Sun, Pasaquan, Turtle Blues, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, Made Up Mind, Keep on Growing, The Storm, Whipping Post, Another Day, Soul Sweet Song, Space Captain