Search - Allman Brothers :: Peakin at the Beacon

Recorded over 13 nights in March 2000, at New York's Beacon Theater--and marking the Allman Brothers Band's 30th anniversary--this disc captures the ABB at a crossroads. Guitarist Jack Pearson embarked on a solo career a year earlier (and was replaced by Derek Trucks) and, three months later, founding member Dickie Betts departed amidst reports of the proverbial "creative differences." You might think this turmoil would seriously detract from the ABB's Southern-rock supremacy, but while this recording can't match the legendary At Fillmore East, it's nevertheless the work of a band that's going strong. The selection of lesser-known tracks dominated by Gregg Allman compositions might leave longstanding fans feeling shortchanged, since some have been better preserved on previous live recordings. Still, there's plenty to recommend, not the least being the rousing, epic jam on Betts's "High Falls" that closes out the disc. And despite the occasional lapse in recording fidelity, you've still got Trucks's stupendous slide, the inclusion of some relative rarities (including "Every Hungry Woman"), and an opening medley of "Don't Want You No More," "It's Not My Cross to Bear," and "Ain't Wastin' Time No More" that plants one foot in the Allmans' illustrious past while pointing toward more years of crowd-pleasing virtuosity. --Jeff Shannon