Gov’t Mule kicks off their Dark Side of the Mule tour on July 22 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which will have the band celebrating the music of Pink Floyd and the classic album The Dark Side of the Moon.
Mule frontman Warren Haynes tells ABC Audio the idea for the shows originated from the band’s annual Halloween tradition, where “we give ourselves permission to play somebody else’s music.” He notes they’ve covered Neil Young, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and many others.
“In 2008 we did Pink Floyd and the fans really dug it, and we released the recording and it was something the fans really like, so they encouraged us to do it more,” Haynes says.
After releasing the live album in 2014, Haynes says they thought they’d retired it. “[But] when the 50th anniversary of Dark Side of the Moon came around, we’re like, ‘All right, we’ll do it one more time,’ which I’m really psyched about.”
The Dark Side of the Moon was released in March 1973, but it’s an album that has only grown in popularity over the years — Haynes thinks that’s because it contains “timeless music.”
“It was written and performed and recorded in a way that is never going to get old,” he says. “You know, there’s so much music. If you go back decades, some of it has a stamp on it and doesn’t live up to your expectations later on. But that music is better now than it was at the time.”
Gov’t Mule’s Dark Side of the Mule tour, which features a full set of Gov’t Mule songs, followed by the Pink Floyd tribute, wraps August 20 in Vienna, Virginia. A complete list of dates can be found at mule.net.
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