After returning to the stage in Greensboro, NC for the first time since coming back from their second tour of Europe, Billy Strings and his band continued their fall tour with a pair of heaters at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD on Friday and Saturday.
The jamgrass powerhouse unit comprised of Strings and his companions Billy Failing (banjo), Royal Masat (bass), Jarrod Walker (mandolin), and Alex Hargreaves (fiddle) came out swinging with the kind of big jam energy typically reserved for the second set, opening with a combination “Psycho” > “Hide and Seek”. Whether it was inspiration from exploring new territory during their European sojourn, the thrill of being back home once again filling arenas, or just being refreshed after a rare break in their busy tour schedule, the band was on its A-game
Billy Strings –”Psycho” (Eddie Noack), “Hide and Seek” – 12/8/23
After closing set one with fan favorite “Dust in a Baggie”, Strings returned for set two armed with his banjo for a solo rendition of Dock Boggs‘ “Country Blues”. He then switched back to guitar for “Catch and Release”—a cautionary tale based on when he was stopped by police with Leftover Salmon‘s Vince Hermann on the way to go fishing—after which the rest of the band joined him on stage.
Later in the set, most of the band once again ceded the stage to Strings, this time with Jarrod Walker joining him for a single-mic duet of the traditional “Feast Here Tonight (Rabbit In A Log)”. When the rest of the quintet returned, they gather round the single mic for “Freedom”, a song Strings co-wrote with Lindsay Lou, before wrapping up the set with Béla Fleck‘s “Tentacle Dragon” > “Doin’ Things Right” and concluding the show with an encore featuring a rare cover of “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad”.
Saturday’s performance was another strong showing, with highlights including a rocking cover of Widespread Panic‘s “All Time Low”, the band’s debut of The Stanley Brothers‘ “”Harbor of Love”, a second set-closing sequence of “Old Swinging Bridge” > “Ernest T. Grass” > “Ole Slewfoot”, and the encore, “Sharecropper’s Son”, another Stanley Brothers tune, played for the first time in over a year.
Billy Strings – “Libby Phillips Rag” > “Red Daisy”, “Heartbeat of America” – 12/9/23
Click below to view fan-shot videos from Billy Strings at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD and scroll down to view the full setlists. His tour continues this week with two nights at Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA. For more on the tour, click here, and to purchase tickets visit Strings’ website. nugs subscribers can tune in for free livestreams of each show here.
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Billy Strings – “All Time Low” (Widespread Panic) – 12/9/23
[Video: whereshaynes]
Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | CFG Bank Arena | Baltimore, MD, USA | 12/9/23
Set 1: Libby Phillips Rag, Red Daisy, Heartbeat of America, In the Morning Light, All Time Low (Widespread Panic), Running, Harbor of Love (The Stanley Brothers) (Live debut by BS), This Old World, Texas Gales (Doc Watson), The Likes of Me (Jerry Reed), Pyramid Country, Must Be Seven (‘Pyramid Country’ reprise), Thunder (Robert Hunter)
Set 2: Sophronie (Jimmy Martin), Living Like an Animal, New Country Blues (Emmit-Nershi Band), Love and Regret, I’ll Be Gone a Long Time, A Face in the Crowd (Larry Sparks), Tipper (Tony Rice), Hollow Heart, Home, Old Swinging Bridge, Ernest T. Grass (The Dillards), Ole Slew-Foot (Johnny Horton)
Encore: Sharecropper’s Son (Carter Stanley)
Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | CFG Bank Arena | Baltimore, MD, USA | 12/8/23
Set 1: Psycho (Eddie Noack), Hide and Seek, Know It All, Uncle Pen (Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys), Hellbender, Show Me the Door, Taking Water, End of the Rainbow (Frank Wakefield), Dust in a Baggie
Set 2: Country Blues (Dock Boggs) (Solo-Banjo), Catch & Release (Solo-Guitar), Highway Hypnosis, John Deere Tractor (Larry Sparks), Running the Route, Everything’s the Same, Feast Here Tonight (Prairie Ramblers) (JW-Mandolin, BS-Guitar), Freedom, Tentacle Dragon (Béla Fleck), Doin’ Things Right
Encore: Going Down the Road Feeling Bad ([traditional]), Secrets