It’s summertime in Berkeley, and that means the time is right for the Tedeschi Trucks Band to visit the historic Hearst Greek Theater on the beautiful University of California-Berkeley campus. The acclaimed 12-member blues rock ensemble are back, and the Greek is packed, as there are few, if any, who do it better when it comes to modern blues power than Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. The husband-and-wife duo have been writing the book on how to merge music and family since first touring together in 2007, and blues fans have been the beneficiaries.
The Bay Area in particular has received a slew of sensational shows from the Tedeschi Trucks Band over the past decade. Three stops in four years at Oakland’s Fox Theater began with the 2016 shows, which produced their Live From the Fox Oakland release the following year. The audience “keep on growing”, as the band sing in the Derek & the Dominoes classic that’s become a repertoire fan favorite, and now it’s three times in four summers here at the Greek on Tuesday, 12 August.
The band’s “Live in 2025” tour includes co-headlining dates with various friends, and it’s Whiskey Myers opening tonight’s show with a 90-minute set of their own. Those coming in from distant parts of California might miss most of the opening set, such as fanatics driving back from seeing King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard the previous night in San Diego. One could arrive at the Greek around 7:00 pm and still catch the last half hour of the set, with the bluesy Southern rock band cranking out a high-energy sound.
The vast majority of the audience are clearly here for Derek and Susan as the Tedeschi Trucks Band receive a warm welcome when they hit the stage around 8:00 pm. “Laugh About It” from 2016’s Let Me Get By album is an early highlight, with Tedeschi getting the audience involved on the call-to-arms song when she sings, “Rise up, right where they pushed you down” and “Stand up while you still can…” She motions with her hands and implores the audience to “Put your hands up”, which many do as Trucks lays down some shimmering slide licks.
The title track from the group’s 2022 quadruple album opus, I Am the Moon, is a gem as Tedeschi and keyboardist Gabe Dixon sing a soulful duet about star-crossed lovers, while lunar imagery appears in the light show. The group dip into classic blues territory with Junior Wells’ “Little by Little”, where Tedeschi belts out the vocal and contributes some hot blues guitar riffage of her own to generate additional audience enthusiasm. “Do I Look Worried” keeps the bluesy rocking going as Trucks and trumpeter Ephraim Owens go off on the solos.
Dixon takes center stage when he sings the Allman Brothers Band’s “Come and Go Blues”, an upbeat classic that showcases the entire band, with the horn section and backing singers elevating the sound to a higher level. The melodic interplay between Trucks’ lead guitar, bassist Brandon Boone’s dynamic low end and Dixon’s piano parts creates one of the grooviest jams of the night. Drummers Tyler Greenwell and Isaac Eady are instrumental here, too, with their polyrhythmic percussion.
Tedeschi introduces a new song that turns out to be an energetic guitar-driven rocker based around a chorus where she sings “I hope the future’s got soul in it”, with an urgent feel that fits the moment here in 2025 and sounds like it could be another instant classic. The psychedelic imagery behind the group enhances “Future Soul” further, a song that seems ripe for more jamming even though it’s a concise version that’s delivered here.
The future certainly will have soul in it as long as the Tedeschi Trucks Band are still jamming out on “Keep on Growing”, the classic romantic rocker from Eric Clapton’s Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs album by his Derek & the Dominoes project in 1970, which also featured Duane Allman. It’s a prime showcase for Tedeschi’s soul-soothing voice and Trucks’ sensational slide guitar, a match made in music heaven. The band get a big groove going around the infectious melodic hooks to conjure the dance party song of the night, before Trucks wails a monster solo to win another big cheer.
Tedeschi Trucks Band’s own classic “Midnight in Harlem” from their 2011 debut Revelator also pops up as the other big jam of the night, a jam vehicle with such a timeless melodic groove that they wasted no time issuing a version that went nearly twice the length of the studio track on 2012’s Everybody’s Talkin’ live album. The song never fails to strike a chord with Tedeschi’s cathartic vocal, Mike Mattison’s angelic harmonies, the complementary horn melodies, and glistening slide guitar licks over the gorgeous bass line.
Elmore James’ “The Sky Is Crying” is another great showcase as a blues standard, right in the wheelhouse for Tedeschi’s powerful vocals and lead guitar riffs, before Trucks comes in with his dazzling slide guitar licks that connect the past and present of the blues, keeping the art form alive as ever. The title track from 2013’s Made Up Mind closes out the set with a blast of high-energy blues rocking, as Tedeschi sings of her determination, and it’s hard to believe how quickly the set seems to have gone by.
An extended encore keeps the bluesy goodness going as Tedeschi takes the spotlight with her longtime fan favorite version of John Prine‘s “Angel of Montgomery”. Her heartfelt vocal on the song sets up what’s become a classic combo, as she segues into Jerry Garcia’s “Sugaree”, emoting intensely on the chorus to win another big cheer here on the Grateful Dead’s home turf.
It looks like there will be one more song as Trucks signals the drummers by motioning as if he’s toking a joint, which leads to the group’s cover of the Coasters’ “Let’s Go Get Stoned” (as popularized by Ray Charles and Joe Cocker.) “Ain’t no harm with having a little taste,” Mattison sings on his verse, an ever popular sentiment in these parts as well as a long time tradition in the blues art form. The blues remain in the best of hands with Tedeschi Trucks Band.