The Ramblin’ Man and Great Southern play southbound revival at the Bird

Rarely does such a multifarious crowd gather for a rock show at the Bluebird. On May 18, Dickey Betts, founding member of the legendary Allman Brothers Band, brought his band back to Bloomington for his first Bloomington show in nearly four years. \nWith a mix of recent material and songs from the classic days of the Allmans, Betts and his backing band Great Southern played a country-southern-blues style of ear-catching solos and beautiful three-part guitar harmonies. The set list included such classic tunes as the Grammy-winning “Jessica,” “Nobody Left to Run With” and instrumental masterpiece “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.” \nComprised of guitarists Betts, his son Duane, and Andy Aledort, the band also featured keyboardist Mike Kach, bassist Pedro Arevalo, and the powerful two-drum attack of James Varnado and Frankie Lombardi. With the exception of a third guitar, the instrumentation was a reproduction of the original Allman sound. \nLike a wall of stereo, a plethora of amps engulfed the musicians, obscuring the drummers but emitting a wall of aural propulsion into an ever-attentive crowd of old and young fans alike. The audience mix included everyone from grandparents to third generation Betts. \nDick Gist, a self-proclaimed Betts fan who was able to get this writer access to several band members on their tour van, was more than impressed with the show. \n“He opened with ‘Statesboro Blues’ and played everything he knows for three hours,” Gist said. “He’s badass, and the other guys in the band are really cool to hang with.” \nThe contrast between the Betts father and son was stark amidst their similar physical features and twin Les Paul guitars. The elder Betts donned a cowboy hat, boots and vest, while his son wore black Converse All-Stars and loose-fit jeans. While Dickey took the helm for much of the show both vocally and on guitar, Duane hardly spoke a word outside his singing and took time to warm up to the audience. \nGrowing up on tour with the Allman Brothers Band, Duane has spent much of his life around music and has enjoyed touring with his father and teacher, he said. \n“He gives me tips as far as how to approach the guitar,” Duane said. “It’s cool playing with your father, and it made a lot of sense to do it.”\n“Duane is an incarnation of his father,” Arevalo said. \nWhile paying close attention to the original Allman recordings, each musician in the band put his own stamp on the current versions of the songs. \n“It’s a rite of passage to learn (the Allman Brothers) stuff,” Andy Aledort said. “I reference it as much as possible.” \nJames Varnado, who stole the second set with a mesmerizing solo of intricate drumming, has even less knowledge of the Allmans. \n“Dickey lets us update the parts,” Varndao said. “Praise to God. Be sure to put that in there.” \nDreadlocked bassist Arevalo, who used to hang around Dickey until he was offered to sit in with him at a gig, is now a full member of Great Southern and even plays the bass used by original Allman Brothers bassist Berry Oakley. \n“Our music is cerebral, and there is a lot of stuff going on,” Arevalo said. \nFollowing the second set, the band left to raucous applause, likely because faithful fans knew Betts had yet to play his biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man.” \n“When he closed with that it tore the roof off the place,” Gist said. \nWhile Dickey Betts has been out of the Allman shadow for many years now, he has retained all the improvisational guitar brilliance that put his former band on the map. \nDickey Betts will be on tour for the next two months with gigs all over the U.S.