Alabama Shakes finished a four-show run alongside Tedeschi Trucks Band at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, and used the last night of it to put the two bands on the same stage. Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks walked out during the Shakes set for "Time", a song from the album the band would release the following day.
That timing is the detail worth holding onto. "Time" appears on I Must Be Dreaming, which arrived on August 28, so the guest spot was a preview rather than a victory lap. It landed seventh in a 20-song set, and Brittany Howard and her bandmates played nine songs from the record in total, folding them in among live fixtures such as "Hold On", "Sound & Color", "Joe", "Be Mine" and "Don't Wanna Fight".
The crossover had actually started a night earlier, in Grand Rapids. Howard joined Tedeschi Trucks Band during their own set for Sly and the Family Stone's "Everyday People" at Acrisure Amphitheater, with Alabama Shakes touring members Shanay Johnson and Karita Law adding backing vocals and Howard trading lines with Tedeschi. The 12-piece band had already worked a "You Can Make It If You Try" medley into that song during its Beacon Theatre residency earlier in the year.
In Cincinnati the running order put Tedeschi Trucks Band first, 14 songs across 90 minutes, drawing on Future Soul, their sixth studio album and the record the current tour is built around. That set took in "Who Am I", "Hero", "What in the World" and the title track, plus covers of "Ohio" and "Loving Cup". Alabama Shakes then took the stage at 9:30pm and closed the night.
The Shakes encore ran three songs, "American Dream", "Drive By Baby" and "Gimme All Your Love", and ended a stretch that had also taken the two bands through Noblesville, Maryland Heights and Grand Rapids. Both acts are at unusual points in their careers: Tedeschi Trucks Band deep into a touring cycle, Alabama Shakes back on the road for the first sustained run in years.
That return is the larger story behind the guest spot. Alabama Shakes came back with I Must Be Dreaming, their first album in a decade, and Howard has since talked publicly about how the reunion came together. Tedeschi Trucks Band, meanwhile, have spent the summer collecting guests of their own, including a Hollywood Bowl encore with the Black Crowes.
For the rock and soul audiences both bands draw on, the pairing is close to an obvious one, which may be why it took four nights to happen. When it did, it was one song, at the end, on the eve of a record.
The facts
- Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks sat in on Time at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati
- Time appears on I Must Be Dreaming, released the next day on August 28
- Alabama Shakes played nine songs from the new album in a 20-song set
- Brittany Howard had joined Tedeschi Trucks Band the night before in Grand Rapids
- The Cincinnati show closed a four-date run the two bands shared
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