Warren Haynes Debuts Lyle Lovett’s “Pontiac,” Revives Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan Covers in Austin
Warren Haynes, photo by Dino Perrucci
On Sunday, Feb. 22, Warren Haynes pulled into Austin, Texas for an engagement at the Paramount Theatre. The celebrated Southern rock singer-songwriter and guitarist’s latest engagement on his Winter of Warren solo outing continued the trend of surprising performances he’s been delivering along his march down from Northern California, featuring a fistful of rarities and a live debut.
Haynes set off the first of three shows in the Lone Star State with his third all-time treatment of Bob Weir’s Ace classic “Cassidy,” delivered in tribute to the late Grateful Dead co-founder. After plowing through uncommon cuts from Gov’t Mule and his solo discography, including “Traveling Tune,” “Glory Road” and “Forsaken Savior,” he moved into an unexpected resurrection of Bob Dylan’s “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” which he last covered in January 2019. To cap off the first frame, he plumbed the depths of Gov’t Mule’s catalog with “Gone Too Long,” “Raven Black Night” and “So Weak, So Strong.”
To commence his second set, Haynes went straight to the heart of the blues tradition with his thoroughly-honed spin on Tampa Red’s standard “It Hurts Me Too.” The torch-bearing rocker honored his time in the Allman Brothers Band with “Old Before My Time,” then set up another bust-out by playing Ray LaMontagne’s “Shelter” for the first time since Aug. 2023. The evening’s biggest surprise came with Haynes’ debut rendition of Lyle Lovett’s chilling 1988 country classic “Pontiac,” a track ready-made for his brand of intimate, smoldering Americana. This beating heart of the performance gave the artist momentum to breeze through a last lap of covers like Bill Withers’ “Hope She’ll Be Happier” and his original “I’ll Be the One,” dating back to the recently reissued Tales of Ordinary Madness and revived for the first time since March 2023. A rare rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “China Doll” capped off the performance, four years after its prior staging in March 2022.
Warren Haynes will return to the stage tonight for a performance at Dallas’ Kessler Theater, then finish off his solo run with dates in Houston, Texas and Pelham, Tenn. Find tickets and details on his full live itinerary at warrenhaynes.net.