A year ago, Dickey Betts was forced to hand in his resignation from the Allman Brothers Band, and so he decided to reform his Dickey Betts Band (albeit with a totally new lineup) to record a new album, Let's Get Together, and head back on the road.

On Wednesday night, Betts seemed jazzed to be back in New York City, where the Allmans frequently held month-long engagements. In fact, the stage at B.B. King Blues Club was strikingly similar to that of Betts' former band: two guitars, two drum kits, percussion, bass and keyboards. The only obvious addition was that of a sax player.

The show kicked off at 8 p.m., right on time, with the opening tune from Betts' latest, a harmonized dual-guitar instrumental called "Rave On," which was conceived straight outta the ABB songbook. Though most of the fans jumped to their feet in anticipation, the sound was marred by a constant buzz that emanated from the speakers, a problem that plagued the soundman all night.

Breaking into a Stevie Ray Vaughn homage, Betts stepped back from the microphone and let his keyboard player, Matt Zeiner, man the vocals, surprising the crowd and providing a real Southern backyard BBQ feel.

Betts then busted out the ABB staple "Jessica," one of the most popular rock instrumentals ever recorded. At one point, Betts turned to tell the drummers to pick up the tempo, possibly a rookie mistake on their part, but the song was still robbed of a full guitar solo, presumably an efficiency measure to ensure that the group would be punctual for the second, 10 p.m. show.

Once again, Betts stepped back from the mike and let Zeiner and drummer/guitarist Frank Lombardi take over vocal duties. Lombardi made an honest effort, but sound woes rendered his vocals inaudible. Again Betts realized that the audience was there to see their hero play their favorite ABB tunes, so he asked, "You wanna hear 'Blue Sky'?" To a resounding applause, he dedicated the tune to Jerry Garcia and prefaced the song with a few bars of the Grateful Dead's "Franklin's Tower."

Betts ended his eight-song set with a solid take of one of his finest compositions, "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," and his work on the fret board was nothing short of blistering -- proving that, with or without his brothers, the stage is where Dickey Betts belongs.

STEVE FLORIO
(July 3, 2001)