Gov't Mule Play Marathon Set at New York's Central Park

While other bands might want to take a breather in between sets, Gov't Mule thought it'd be best to play as many songs as they could with hardly any breaks at New York's Central Park on Wednesday night.

"We're going to play 'til the very last minute so that's why we didn't take a break," Gov't Mule leader Warren Haynes told a sea of people dressed in tie-dye shirts and bandannas. "We have so many friends in the house that we want to play with tonight."

Although fans were ecstatic to hear the band's extensive catalog of songs, it was Gov't Mule's covers and onstage collaborations that really took the show to another level. From 'The Shape I'm In' by the Band to Elton John's 'Madman Across the Water,' which they played with saxophonist Bill Evans, Haynes and his crew showed the musical expertise each one of the musicians carried.

Haynes continued his tributes by teaming up with Fab Faux and Conan O'Brien band guitarist Jimmy Vivino to perform 'Working Class Hero' by John Lennon, which seemed to make a huge impact on the crowd that night. With all the homages being paid to Jerry Garcia this year, Gov't Mule added their own to the mix by giving a heartwarming performance of 'Patchwork Quilt,' a song he wrote for the Grateful Dead frontman.

And the guests just kept coming -- Gov't Mule invited keyboardist John "JT" Thomas to help play 'Lively Up Yourself' and invited Evans back onstage to put his own spin on 'Mule' as well as join in on 'Soc-Mule' with guitarist Oz Noy. "It's hard to play in New York without inviting your friends onstage so we apologize if we're having to much fun up here," Haynes said.

After the two-hour set and a half-hour encore, the band decided to end the evening by inviting Vivino and the show's opening act Jackie Greene to play the Grateful Dead's version of the Bonnie Dobson folk classic, 'Morning Dew.'