It’s a cold, damp Saturday night here in San Francisco on 21 December, but that won’t deter music fans from coming out for a special Winter Solstice bonanza at the Fillmore. The eighth annual Allman Betts Family Revival is back for the tour closer to their December run to honor the music of the Allman Brothers Band. The tribute tour started in 2017 to honor singer & keyboardist Gregg Allman, who passed away at age 69. The tour also honors guitarist Dickey Betts, who passed away in 2024 at age 80. But their spirit lives on in the music that made the Allman Brothers Band one of the most influential groups in rock history.
Next-generation guitarists and songwriters Devon Allman and Duane Betts have collaborated as the Allman Betts Band in recent years. It’s remarkable to see them back together here. As usual, the tour also features a posse of guest musicians across multiple generations, spotlighting longtime friends and newer talent in the blues rock world. The Family Revival Tour provides a noble service to the music community by helping fresh faces reach new audiences while conjuring an uplifting blues revue vibe.
The show is sold out, but entering the venue shortly before the advertised 8:00 pm start time is sufficient to get up close before the room fills in. An opening jam on “Don’t Want You No More” — the lively opening track from the Allman Brothers Band’s’ 1969 debut – threatens to take off like a horse escaping the barn before Betts seems to reel it back in his role as Lt. Colonel of Rock.
Vintage vibes are in the air along with some spectacular visual psychedelia on the screen behind the stage, and it’s clear the Allman Betts Band are ready to cut loose as they follow with the same album’s next track, the bluesy “It’s Not My Cross to Bear”. Jimmy Hall comes out to front the group for a raucous “Statesboro Blues”, and the Fillmore is in blues heaven as Allman, Betts, and ace slide guitarist Johnny Stachela tear it up. Stachela is like the group’s secret weapon throughout the night, frequently powering songs to the next level with his dynamic leads.
“Hey, it’s great to be back in San Francisco; let’s have some fun,” Betts says as he introduces “Blue Sky”, one of his dad’s signature tunes that never fails to ignite with its unique melodic majesty. Betts lets the music off the leash here for the first extended jam of the evening, as Stachela steps up with some gorgeous slide guitar over the infectious groove to crank up the energy level and get the dance floor grooving. The song’s conclusion conjures the first full room reaction of the night as a wave of cheers ecstatically rolls across the room.
Singer Sierra Green and pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph guest star on the gospel style blues “Please Call Me Home” from 1970’s Idlewild South, and guitarist Larry McCray guests on T-Bone Walker’s “Call It Stormy Monday But Tuesday is Just as Bad”. Singer/guitarist Jackie Greene represents for the Bay Area when he comes out with an acoustic guitar to front the group on the 1972 hit “Melissa”, which opens up for a short but blissful jam over a sweet groove to transcend the song’s melancholy flavor.
The multi-talented Greene moves over to keyboards along with organist John Ginty as singer Lindsay Lou and guitar phenom Grace Bowers join the group for a stellar romp through “Southbound”. The tune gets a big jam that shines as one of the evening’s peak moments, with the 18-year-old Bowers given a spotlight to let it rip. Her talent shines bright here, with the 46-year-old Betts and 52-year-old Allman urging her on. This is the first time that most of the audience has seen Bowers, and she makes a big impression with her charismatic stage presence and fiery lead guitar skills.
The classics keep coming as ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro joins in for a deep run through “Dreams”. Drummer Cody Dickinson from the North Mississippi Allstars helps power a multi-dimensional jam with dynamic percussion as he will for much of the evening, spurring Shimaburo and Allman to soar higher as they trade hot licks. A rip-rocking jam on “Jessica” finds the whole group soaring on the essential tune that helped write the book for dance party jams powered by twin guitars and melodic piano. The dance floor ignites as the groovy “Jessica” closes out the first set triumphantly.
The second set mixes things up by featuring some tunes from the Allman Brothers Band’s resurgence in the early 1990s that powered the group onward for another 25 years. The melodic title track from 1990’s Seven Turns stands out with an optimistic vibe amid imagery of the American Southwest on the visual screen. Warren Haynes‘ “Soulshine” from 1994’s Where It All Begins receives some special treatment, too, with McCray and Bowers returning to help propel the song’s cathartic blues power.
The “Soulshine” jam leads into the same album’s “No One to Run With”, a song that hit with an instant classic vibe 30 years ago that helped connect the Allman Brothers Band’s past with its future. The song was a featured moment on the 1994 H.O.R.D.E. Tour (Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere) that launched with a special party in Cleveland and saw the Allmans rock amphitheaters across America in a festival format, supported by Blues Traveler, Sheryl Crow, Big Head Todd, and the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies. It rocks the house here with singer Erika Orbison (wife of Allman Betts drummer Alex Orbison) joining the fun.
The set reverts to the early 1970s with an incendiary jam on “One Way Out”, featuring Jimmy Hall, Grace Bowers, Jackie Greene, and 17-year-old Northern California guitarist Bella Rayne. They’re all having a blast, and so is everyone in the audience as the ensemble rocks out. Betts takes the lead next with a heartwarming rendition of his dad’s classic tune “Ramblin Man”, which also benefits from some melodic piano and a big groove for another hot jam. That leads to a monster set closer on “Whipping Post”, as Bowers steps up again along with Betts and Stachela for some fierce guitar riffage on the classic tormented ode to existential sorrow.
The clock seems to be nearing curfew, but the Allman Betts Band get the nod for an encore that features the entire cast on stage for a run through the timeless groove of “Midnight Rider” to close out the festivities. And what a festive Winter Solstice party it’s been with the Allman Betts Family Revival.
Fans looking for more from Devon Allman and Duane Betts should make sure to check out Betts’ stellar 2023 record Wild & Precious Life and Allman’s boundary-pushing 2024 release Miami Moon with an all-star band featuring George Porter Jr. on bass, Adam Deitch on drums, Ivan Neville on keyboards, Karl Denson on sax, as well as Jackson Stokes on guitar.
