Infamous Stringdusters Cover The Dead, Phish, Daft Punk, MMJ, Marvin Gaye, & More [Videos]

In a genre deeply rooted in tradition, songwriting, and standards, bands stand out in the world of bluegrass in two ways: top-notch vocals and impeccable musicianship. With the Infamous Stringdusters, you get both. Not only are all five members virtuosic at their instrument of choice, four out of five confidently step into the role of lead vocalist and can croon and harmonize with the best of them. Kicking off a two-night run at Denver’s Ogden Theater Friday night, the five-piece powerhouse delighted a lively crowd of costume-clad fans during two-sets filled with jam-band teases, choice covers, and plenty of good old-fashioned bluegrass.

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The Dusters are a tight-knit group, and their improvisations are bolstered by their movement onstage. With the exception of Andy Hall’s dobro, all other members—Andy Falco on guitar, Chris Pandolfi on banjo, Jeremy Garrett on fiddle, and Travis Book on upright bass—play wirelessly and parade around the entirety of the stage. One song the band will be in a tight cluster stage left, the next Pandolfi and Falco will be partnered up shredding while the rest form a triangle on the opposite side of the stage. Look away and you may come back to find the whole band intertwining in a chaotic atomic frenzy.

The band released a new album at the show Friday night, a five-song compilation of covers called Undercover II, which was recorded in Boulder at the Etown radio show earlier in the year. To celebrate, they ended the first set by playing the album in its entirety. First it was The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” followed by “Golden” by My Morning Jacket. A note-for-note rendition of the Allman Brother’s instrumental classic “Jessica” followed, before Book—arguably the best voice of the bunch—took over vocals for Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin On.” The album was rounded out with a Halloween-inspired take of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” that saw each member put on a space helmet akin to the ones famously worn by the French duo.

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The second set played right into the hands of the jammy home-state crowd, opening with the hit “Colorado” that fell into a tease of Phish’s “Bathtub Gin,” the first of a handful of short teases that would perk the crowd’s interest. A dobro tease of the Grateful Dead’s “West LA Fadeaway” dropped into “Get It While You Can,” the Dead’s “Shakedown Street” let Falco erupt on guitar, and the climatic build of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (more famously known as Phish’s “2001”) led into a bluegrass hoedown. The Dusters left plenty of room for their original material, “A Hard Life Makes a Good Song” was a standout, but Friday night was more about letting loose and having a little sing-a-long fun.

The band will be back at the Ogden Theater tonight to close out their Denver run.

[Cover Photo: Scott Seifert]

Setlist: The Infamous Stringdusters | Ogden Theater | Denver, CO | 10/27/2017

Set One: Canyon, Hard Life > Sirens, Back Home > Black Elk, Just Like Heaven, Golden > Jessica, What’s Going On > Get Lucky

Set Two: Colorado > Red Fox, Vertigo, For What It’s Worth > Let Me Know, Ring, All That I Can Take > Get It, Hitchhiker > Shakedown Street, Space > Tragic, Gravity > HC Funk > 2001 > Blockygrass

Just Like Heaven