The Tedeschi Trucks Band with Alabama Shakes, Acrisure Amphitheater, Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 25, 2026.

Taking our places on the lawn of our city’s new outdoor concert shed, my wife and I were hyped up by the crowd that had gathered. Used to a maximum capacity of 2,000 at Grand Rapids’ other outdoor venue, it was pretty exhilarating to see at least twice as many folks gathered on the grass around us – and even more than that in the covered seats up front! About 10,000 folks, both locals and fans who’d obviously made a pilgrimage from elsewhere, all in place for an evening of rootsy music.

I wasn’t sure what openers Alabama Shakes had in store; neither of their albums had impressed me, and they’ve only been back together for a couple of years following a lengthly hiatus, touring in anticipation of their comeback album I Must Be Dreaming. What we got, though, was a generous helping of langorous psychedelic soul that easily exceeded my expectations.

Looking and sounding for all the world like Sister Rosetta Tharpe returned, Brittany Howard commanded the stage from the start, her gospel-soaked vocals a thing of wonder, her stinging rhythm and searing licks on a foam-green Gibson SG going straight to the gut. Long-time bandmates Heath Fogg on guitar and Zac Cockrell on bass hail from the “less is more” school of down-home Southern music; set off by laid-back stage drummer Noah Bond (playing so far behind the beat he seemed to be in a different time zone), even with double keyboards and a backing vocal trio there was plenty of space for Howard to strut her stuff. And while Alabama Shakes’ songs can sound undercomposed and overfussed-with on record, they clicked live; focusing on their more experimental second album Sound and Color, the band mixed in enough new material (and the upbeat hits from their shorter, snappier debut Boys and Girls) to keep the audience spellbound and wanting more. Ultimately they stretched out for more than an hour, bringing a well-deserved co-headline set to a savory, simmering boil by the end.

Then, as the sun went down and the air took on a chill, the Tedeschi Trucks Band brought some welcome fire, complete with an encouragement on the video screens to stand up and dance! Susan Tedeschi’s gorgeous, gritty singing (with great vocal interjections from keys man Gabe Dixon) and Derek Trucks’ imaginative, heartfelt slide work set the pace across the up-tempo Motown jump of “Playing with My Emotions”, the straightforward drive of “Made Up Mind” and the Quiet Storm R&B of “I Got You” (from fabulous new album Future Soul) and “Midnight in Harlem”, as Tyler Greenwell and Isaac Eady laid down a flowing, bubbling bed of double drum work.

But it was on their thrillingly eclectic selection of covers that the 12-piece ensemble showed themselves a true band of equals. Tedeschi bragged and purred with both voice and guitar on Muddy Waters’ “Got My Mojo Working”; second vocalist Mike Mattison worried and wailed through Chuck Willis’ “I Feel So Bad”; after Trucks had brought Eric Clapton’s “Keep On Growing” down to a hush, trombonist Elizabeth Lea brought it all the way back up! Vocalist Mark Rivers, trumpeter Emmanuel Echern and sax man Kebbi Williams had their moments to shine too.

And the high point was yet to come: first TTB combined with Alabama Shakes’ backing singers for Sly Stone’s “You Can Make It If You Try”; then Brittany Howard tore it up duetting with Tedeschi on Stone’s transcendent “Everyday People”. That got the entire crowd on their feet, staying up as the band played right through to the city curfew, taking the set out with The Allman Brothers’ chugging “Stand Back”, original “I Want More” and a furious coda of Santana’s “Soul Sacrifice.”

“I’m building a kingdom in my soul/Where the fires first burned let flowers grow” were the first words from Brittany Howard’s mouth Tuesday night. “Hope your future’s got soul in it” is the chorus from that fine new Tedeschi Trucks Band album’s title track. Alabama Shakes and TTB have gone their separate ways for now; but if you want to build that kingdom of future soul inside you, seeing one or both of these bands would be a great way to start.

— Rick Krueger

For Alabama Shakes tour dates, click here.

For Tedeschi Trucks Band tour dates, click here.

Alabama Shakes setlist:

• Tea Time
• Guess Who
• Rise to the Sun
• Hang Loose
• Shoegaze
• I Feel Hope Coming
• Dunes
• Future People
• Hold On
• This Feeling
• Joe
• Sound & Color
• Gimme All Your Love
• Don’t Wanna Fight
• Another Life
• Always Alright

Tedeschi Trucks Band setlist:

• Hear My Dear
• Playing With My Emotions
• Got My Mo-Jo Working (Muddy Waters cover)
• I Got You
• I Feel So Bad (Chuck Willis cover)
• Keep On Growing (Derek and the Dominos cover)
• Take Me as I Am
• You Can Make It If You Try (Sly & the Family Stone cover – with Alabama Shakes back-up singers)
• Everyday People (Sly & the Family Stone cover – with Brittany Howard)
• Made Up Mind
• Midnight in Harlem
• Stand Back (Allman Brothers Band cover)
• I Want More /Soul Sacrifice outro (Santana cover)