Life is short, buy the tickets

36 hours in Florida

Just got home from a whirlwind trip to Allman Brothers Band ground zero: Jacksonville, Florida.

The Allman Brothers’ founding jams happened in the room just over my left shoulder.

I was there to catch Tedeschi Trucks Band’s final show of the year at the gorgeous St. Augustine amphitheater.¹

Something told me it was gonna be a barn-burner

And it damn sure was.

Never a very showy band onstage, from the opening note, the entire band was practically BOUNCING.

It was clear they were having a good time, had had a GREAT year together, and were just letting it all hang out.

That’s the thing about Tedeschi Trucks Band: how much FUN they look like they’re having. It’s like the 1986 Celtics or the Showtime Lakers. They LOVE playing together and it shows.

Not to overdo the hoops analogy, but Derek Trucks is an ABBsolute all-time point guard. Everything on that stage is flowing through him at all times. He gives ample space to everyone. Every band member gets time in the spotlight, including Derek.

And for the first time in 33 years seeing him live², Derek had his hair down.

It was pretty meta for such a rollicking show.

📷Michael Drumm (via Facebook)

Tedeschi Trucks Band

I see this band on the regular.

They are my ABBsolute favorite band going and Derek is my favorite guitar player BY FAR and has been for decades. I see TTB as often as I can and regularly discuss the band’s impact on me and my music listening.

Here are some I’ll share with y’all:

My brain’s been battered, splattered all over Manhattan (March 2024)

When Musical Worlds Collide (July 2023)

Derek Trucks: Selected Tracks/Quality time with Derek’s catalog (June 2025)

Six days on the road (September 2025)

Friends are the family you choose

Joining me on this journey were two of my best friends for more than 30 years now: Troy (next to me) and Steve. Steve’s daughter Becky, my “niece,” is a convert to Mushroom Magic.

Steve, Troy, and I are the self-proclaimed FLABBA, the Florida Allman Brothers Band Association.³ We all lived in Orlando in the 90s and 00s and followed Derek Trucks Band, Gov’t Mule, Widespread Panic, and the like all throughout Florida and the Southeast.

I hit two Wanee Festivals with Steve: the first and last. Troy and I attended 2011 for my 40th bday.

In January 2000, Steve and I saw dTb four consecutive nights: Orlando, Clearwater, Sunrise, and West Palm Beach. Susan sat in all four nights. Uncle Butch took the stage in West Palm.

In May 1997, the three of us saw the original Frogwings lineup, Butch’s short-lived, criminally underrated side project. The following May, Steve and I saw the final show of the Edwin McCain-fronted lineup.

In September 1998, we stood backstage right and watched the ABB with Dickey and Jack Pearson in Jacksonville.⁴

Here’s a story about that show.

Riverside, Jacksonville

Turns out, the neighborhood is FULL of architectural treasures. Riverside Avenue has the highest concentration of Prairie style architecture in the South.

On our walk from our Airbnb (where Linda Oakley lived when she met Berry) to the Gray House, we passed the Green House (above), where the Second Coming (and, later, Lynyrd Skynyrd) lived.⁵

Architectural historian Wayne Wood’s home has an amazing sculpture garden surrounding it.⁶

The Gray House is right down the street at 2844 Riverside Avenue.

The Sounds of Jacksonville

This was a public art project from artist Karen Kurycki, who painted five traffic boxes with Jacksonville-related music stories. I’m familiar with the city’s Southern rock history, but this was news to me. Jacksonville boasts the first published account of the blues being sung on a public stage.⁷

I recorded a video of the Allman Brothers piece.

Gotta love an Airbnb that celebrates important local historical events 🍄

Reproduction of the March 29, 1970 show flyer.

Lagniappe

Allman Brothers Band Moran Theatre, Jacksonville, Florida 9/8/98 (soundboard recording)

Here’s a photo from the show. That’s old pal Dru Lombar (Grinderswitch/Dr. Hector & the Groove Injectors) between Gregg & Jack Pearson.

Thanks for reading.

Your fellow traveler, Bob

1. Seriously y’all, it’s a phenomenal place to see a show.

2. A reader just sent me documentation of that show, 1992 at the Junkyard in Casselberry, Florida. Changed my life.

3. It’s a play on GABBA (Georgia—an official group) and BAABBA (Bay Area—another fan moniker).

4. Turns out, the show wasn’t actually at the Florida Theatre, but the Moran, also in Jacksonville. The story is 100% true.

5. Maybe called One Percent at that time, I don’t know my Lynyrd Skynyrd history that well.

6. Here’s some background: Wayne Wood’s Prairie-style dwelling and Wayne Wood / Lucius Smith House.

7. It was during a performance in Jacksonville’s LaVilla neighborhood in April 1910. More here https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/public-art-sparks-jax-music-history-lessons/.