This album and its companion first set prove that Warren Haynes of Government Mule was the best possible choice to take the Duane spot. Haynes shines all over this album, not in displaying his own style to the detriment of the great spirit of the Allmans but in synergizing with Betts and the rest of the group towards the greater goal of re-capturing the magical Allmans spirit.

He channels the spirit so well, he gets the rest of the band to remember what they were all about and feel it that much better. And though he has chops to spare, not one note is overplayed. Solos sound sweet endlessly without boring the listener just like vintage Allman Bros. Listen and be amazed and hear Dickey Betts rise up to the challenge of Haynes and play like a revitalized man. The best performances? For me it would have to be "Back Where it All Begins" "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (acoustic), "No One to Run With," "Jessica," "Melissa" (acoustic) and a 10 plus minute "Dreams."

Let me tell you, I even gave these two live sets the ultimate test, I played them back-to-back with the "Fillmore East" album and not only does it hold its own but sometimes it's even preferable. It has the spirit of the Allman Brothers in spades and that's all that matters, that's all that ever mattered (the spirit was wandering out in the air before the Allmans somehow latched onto it in 1969 and it became forever known as the Allmans' spirit), it's a seamless flow in terms of spirit, from a song off these live sets to something from 1971 if you had it back to back on a compilation disc.

Tom Dowd took a lot of care in recording these shows and they have great sound quality. Real old time, pure analog sound quality of sweet tones and instruments played well. No digital harshness or thin sounding digital instruments or crappy digital processing, everything you hear is fantastically analog and thick and things are balanced just right. This entire band is about tone and the recording does them justice.

Also amazing is how well Gregg's voice has held up and how deeply he still feels these songs. I could never figure out how a 22 year old white kid could sound as soulful as he did in 1969 until I read in the "Midnight Riders" biography book that Gregg's best friend Floyd Miles was black and through this friendship he and Duane had been playing with black musicians in the black part of Daytona Beach since the early 1960s. They were known as 'those white boys who can play that funky music.'

So make sure you get both these live sets, this and the one with the blue cover since both are excellent and essentially one long concert released as two. If any of you out there reading this are new to the Allman Brothers, you need get the "Laid Back" solo album by Gregg, one he made in 1973 right after Duane & Berry's death, it's a great one, his best. You also need to get the 2 Duane Allman compilations that include some of his work with Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett and others at the Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama, right before the forming of the Allman Brothers Band. And if you're also into the more jazzy and world-fusion side of things jam-band related check out "Mondo Garaj" by Garaj Mahal and "Cosmic Hug" by Fareed Haque group.

The title of this CD is misleading. It is not the 2nd set from the earlier "An Evening With the Allman Brothers-First Set".

In 1989, the Allman Brothers reformed, adding Warren Haynes on guitar and Allen Woody on bass. They recorded the studio albums "Seven Turns" and "Shades of Two Worlds". Next came "An Evening With the Allman Brothers", which was recorded in 1991. On the cover in little print, was written "First Set". They then recorded the studio album "Where It All Belongs". In 1994 they went on tour again, and released a CD from the tour called "2nd Set".

This CD is very good, but not quite as good as the "First Set". The old songs are played in new and exciting ways. The acoustic version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", is very interesting (but not stunning). The new songs are all very good. The real show piece is "Back To Where We Belong". It ends with a 15 minute version of "Jessica" that doesn't sound very much like "Jessica". There is alot of jamming and playing around with bits of "Mountain Jam" thrown in. There are no bad spots in the CD, but it doesn't have the continous intensity of the "First Set".

Note that "First Set", "2nd Set" and "Seven Turns" can be bought together as low priced packaged set.

After this CD, Haynes and Woody left the group to concentrate on their side project Gov't Mule. Woody died last year and Haynes is now playing with Phil Lesh and Friends. The Allman Brothers reformed once more, with Butch Trucks' nephew on guitar. Dickie Betts has been temporarily kicked out of the band.

The title of this CD is misleading. It is not the 2nd set from the earlier "An Evening With the Allman Brothers-First Set".

In 1989, the Allman Brothers reformed, adding Warren Haynes on guitar and Allen Woody on bass. They recorded the studio albums "Seven Turns" and "Shades of Two Worlds". Next came "An Evening With the Allman Brothers", which was recorded in 1991. On the cover in little print, was written "First Set". They then recorded the studio album "Where It All Belongs". In 1994 they went on tour again, and released a CD from the tour called "2nd Set".

This CD is very good, but not quite as good as the "First Set". The old songs are played in new and exciting ways. The acoustic version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", is very interesting (but not stunning). The new songs are all very good. The real show piece is "Back To Where We Belong". It ends with a 15 minute version of "Jessica" that doesn't sound very much like "Jessica". There is alot of jamming and playing around with bits of "Mountain Jam" thrown in. There are no bad spots in the CD, but it doesn't have the continous intensity of the "First Set".

Note that "First Set", "2nd Set" and "Seven Turns" can be bought together as low priced packaged set.

After this CD, Haynes and Woody left the group to concentrate on their side project Gov't Mule. Woody died last year and Haynes is now playing with Phil Lesh and Friends. The Allman Brothers reformed once more, with Butch Trucks' nephew on guitar. Dickie Betts has been temporarily kicked out of the band.

An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band 2nd Set (1995) was recorded in 1994 at shows in Raleigh, NC and New Jersey's Garden State Arts Center. This was during the Back Where It All Begins period, and there are four songs from that album included here.

The opening song, Sailin' Cross The Devil's Sea sounds great, a lot like the studio version, and features Gregg Allman's legendary blues growl. Gregg and Warren Haynes both shine on this inspired version of Warren's Soulshine. Dickey Betts' Latin-flavored and breezy Back Where It All Begins features a long guitar jam, where he and Warren trade interesting and enthusiastic solos. They also do a great job on No One To Run With.

They dip into the At Fillmore East catalog with a very good version of You Don't Love Me, and while not as ambitious as the 20+ minute Fillmore East version, it is very good, and Dickey even flashes back to the earlier version by quoting his guitar solo from it. It's really an amusing and touching moment, and it sounds good, too. They also do a nice cover of another old blues song, The Same Thing.

This recording of Jessica won the Allmans their first and only Grammy Award, and what a wonderful version of Jessica this is! With dual guitar harmonies and more bongo drums and percussion than the studio version, the song sounds almost completely different from the original, and stretches out over sixteen minutes.

Even with all this, the real highlight on the album is the breathtaking unplugged version of In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! The newbies who think Dickey Betts is no more than a mediocre guitarist should listen to this, and then reconsider. Warren Haynes stays right up there with him. The two guitarist show what they can really do on acoustic guitars, and bassist Allen Woody shines, too. This is priceless, a real gem that no ABB fan would want to miss.

Like the First Set, the 2nd Set was produced by music legend (and At Fillmore East producer), Tom Dowd, and the sound is exquisitely crisp and crystal clear. The clever packaging on both sets is almost identical, with the same cover photo, except the First Set is blue, the 2nd Set is red, and the photos inside and liner notes are different (the layout is the same).

This was a good place in time for The Allman Brothers Band and their fans, and it really shows on An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band, First Set and 2nd Set. Don't miss out on em'!

"We're doin' things I never thought we'd do. . . No guarantee how it's gonna sound", mutters Dickey, and then softly strums the opening chords of an amazing accoustic ER, which features not only great interplay between him & Warren, but also a fantastic (but short) bass solo from Woody. Otherwise, the real high point here is Willie Dixon's "Same Thing", where Warren shows why he, and not Gregg, was the better vocalist on this particular tour. Don't get me wrong, no one loves Gregg's voice more than me, but what you hear on a given night has always depended on his somewhat unpredictable frame of mind. "You Don't Love Me" gets a solid, abbreviated treatment that sounds better each time I listen. The rest is simply textbook ABB, which is to say outstanding, by most bands standards. It's possible to see why someone with the immense and diverse talents of Warren Haynes and Allen Woody could start to feel a bit confined playing this material night after night.