LIVE AT THE FILLMORE™, The Definitive Tribute to the Original Allman Brothers Band
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2009
Bio
The original Allman Brothers Band performed regularly at New York's
Fillmore East Auditorium run by legendary promoter Bill Graham and often
referred to as the 'church of rock and roll.' The Allman Brothers Band
played often enough at Fillmore East to be called 'Bill Graham's house
band.' It was here and at other New York metropolitan area venues like
Passaic New jersey's Central and Capital Theaters, New York's Central
Park's Schaefer Summer Concert Series where I heard the band many times
beginning in 1970 and finally in July of 1971 at the closing of Fillmore
East. I was there for the Friday night late show, the one the ABB band
calls 'the show,' the one they feel is the greatest performance they
ever gave. I can't say I've heard them or any other band give a better
performance. Sadly, the next time I heard the band was a few months
later at New York's Academy of Music. It was without its leader, Duane
Allman, who had died only weeks before in a motorcycle accident near his
home in Macon, Georgia. It was the most solemn rock concert I have
ever attended. These shows left an indelible impression on me and I had
already formed 'Skydog,' what may have been the very first Allman
Brothers tribute band earlier that year.
LIVE AT THE FILLMORE is the continuation of my devotion to performing
the music of the original Allman Brothers Band as it was performed in
those early years before the untimely deaths of Duane and Berry Oakley
and the departure of Dickey Betts. For me, those years were the 'glory
days' of the Allman Brothers Band. Unlike others who believe the band
was a jam band, I share the view of Gregg Allman, who has been quoted as
recently as 2003 by fellow band member Butch Trucks in stating that
rather than being a jam band The Allman Brothers are "a band that
jams". My perspective on the music is that rather than completely
free-form in its structure, form and content it is a body of work
largely composed after much trial and error and 'jamming' in order to
extract those elements which ultimately became part of the finished
songs. Anyone like myself who had the good fortune to hear the Allman
Brothers shows 'back in the day' on the same or successive nights will
corroborate that though they did leave room for improvisation and
personal expression, for the most part the songs remained the same.
This has continued to be my approach to performing their music. Along
with the other highly talented and committed musicians in LIVE AT THE
FILLMORE, this is my attempt to bring back authentically the
performances of the original Allman Brothers Band for those who were
there to hear and still remember them along with those who have a
similar love of this music and wish they had been there with us. We
hope you enjoy listening to LIVE AT THE FILLMORE!
My best,
Lou Maresca
Band Members
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