After blowing minds during a surprise sit-in with Widespread Panic in Chicago on Thursday, Billy Strings headed up to Rosemont, IL for a two-night scorcher at Allstate Arena.
Kicking things off on Friday, Strings and his bandmates Billy Failing, Royal Masat, Jarrod Walker, and Alex Hargreaves delivered an unforgettable show highlighted by an extended 12-minute jam on “Reuben’s Train”, which ran right into “Running”. The band then switched up the instrumentation in the second set for “Stratosphere Blues/I Believe in You”, with Billy Strings wielding his double-neck acoustic guitar, Royal Masat on keyboard, and Billy Failing on Béla Fleck‘s signature Masterton ML-1: Missing Link Baritone Banjo.
Other standouts included “10,000 Miles From A Friend”, a new unreleased song recently debuted during Willie Nelson‘s Outlaw Music Festival, a pairing of Doc Watson‘s arrangement of The Moody Blues‘ “Nights In White Satin” and “Wargasm”, and two bust-outs—”Key Signator”, played for the first time since 8/7/23, and John Hartford‘s “In Tall Buildings”, last played on 6/29/22.
It would prove difficult to top night one on Saturday, but the Billy and the band did their damndest, blending deep jams with classic rock tributes and plenty of bluegrass firepower. The first set found its centerpiece in the seamless transition from “Running The Route” into a sprawling 14-minute “End of the Rainbow”, the night’s longest jam, followed by a ripping “Ernest T. Grass” > “Ridin’ That Midnight Train” combo that lit up the tail end of the set.
The second frame started out with a loop-heavy “Highway Hypnosis” and was anchored by a jaw-dropping stretch that saw “Leaders” melt into Black Sabbath‘s “Planet Caravan”. The set continued to escalate with covers of Béla Fleck’s “Tentacle Dragon (Revenge Of The)” and Led Zeppelin’s “Four Sticks”. Strings gave another nod to Zeppelin during the subsequent “Doin’ Things Right” with a tease of “The Ocean”. Coming just days after he rocked out with Widespread Panic, the Sabbath-Zep one-two combo felt like a heavy metal victory lap. The show ended on a high note with a rowdy “How Many Biscuits Can You Eat?”.
Check out video highlights and click below to view photo galleries from Billy Strings at Allstate Arena courtesy of photographer Nick Langlois.
Strings’ summer tour continues with stops at Kansas City’s T‑Mobile Center, St. Louis’ Chaifetz Arena, the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival, and Lexington, KY’s Rupp Arena. After a short international swing in Australia and New Zealand, Strings will reemerge stateside in August to open for Dead & Company at the Grateful Dead 60th anniversary shows at Golden Gate Park, followed by headline gigs in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Fargo, Bozeman, Missoula, Vancouver, and the Pacific Northwest in Everett and Eugene. After wrapping the full‑band run, Strings will shift into a more intimate acoustic trio with Bryan Sutton and Royal Masat in early September.
Find tickets and a full list of tour dates here. nugs All Access subscribers can stream the entire tour. [Editor’s Note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your nugs subscription or purchasing a download via the links on this page helps support our coverage of the world of live music. Thank you for reading!]
Billy Strings – “Long Forgotten Dream” > “Living Like An Animal” > “While I’m Waiting Here” – 6/6/25
Billy Strings – “A Robin Built A Nest On Daddy’s Grave”, “On The Line”, “Train 45” – 6/7/25
Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | Allstate Arena | Rosemont, IL | 6/6/25
Set 1: Long Forgotten Dream > Living Like An Animal > While I’m Waiting Here [1], Cabin Song, Fire Line > Reuben’s Train > Running, Show Me The Door, Reverend, Escanaba, Happy Hollow
Set 2: Gild the Lily, Stratosphere Blues / I Believe in You [2] > Hollow Heart [3], Fiddling Around, Key Signator [4], 10,000 Miles From A Friend, This Old World, Bronzeback > Secrets, Nights In White Satin, Wargasm, Gone A Long Time, Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down
Encore: In Tall Buildings [5], The Train That Carried My Girl From Town > Black Mountain Rag
Notes:
[1] “Por Ti Volare” (Andrea Bocelli) tease
[2] Billy Strings on a Martin Grand J-28E, Royal Masat on a Nord Stage 3 88-Key Keyboard & Billy Failing on Masterton ML-1: Missing Link Béla Fleck Baritone Banjo
[3] “Katy Hill” (Traditional) intro jam
[4] Last Time Played 2023-08-07 | 136 show gap
[5] Last Time Played 2022-06-29 | 258 show gap
Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | Allstate Arena | Rosemont, IL | 6/7/25
Set 1: A Robin Built A Nest On Daddy’s Grave, On The Line, Train 45, Enough To Leave, Leaning on a Travelin’ Song, The Lonesome River, Running The Route, End Of The Rainbow, Lonely At The Top [1], John Henry [1,2], Country Blues [3], Dos Banjos [4], Ernest T. Grass, Ridin’ That Midnight Train
Set 2: Highway Hypnosis, California Sober, Hello, City Limits, All Of Tomorrow, Doin’ My Time, Leaders, Planet Caravan, Tentacle Dragon (Revenge Of The), Four Sticks [5], Doin’ Things Right [6,7], Dealing Despair, On The Southbound [8]
Encore: How Many Biscuits Can You Eat?, Roll On Buddy, Roll On
Notes:
[1] Billy Strings solo, front of stage
[2] Last Time Played 2023-11-12 | 108 show gap
[3] Billy Strings solo on clawhammer banjo
[4] Dos Billys (Billy Strings on clawhammer banjo and Billy Failing on banjo)
[5] Last Time Played 2024-04-27 | 77 show gap
[6] “Southern Flavor” (Bill Monroe) fake-out intro
[7] “The Ocean” (Led Zeppelin) tease
[8] Last Time Played 2024-05-24 | 72 show gap
