After kicking off his winter tour on Friday by honoring Bob Weir with his first Grateful Dead covers in nearly four years and celebrating Widespread Panic‘s 40th anniversary, Billy Strings returned to Akins Ford Arena on Friday for a more exploratory performance.
The first set began with “Leaning on a Travelin’ Song” before moving through “In the Clear” and “Ashland Breakdown”. The band hit its stride with an 11-minute “Ernest T. Grass” that flowed into “Must Be Seven”, establishing the evening’s jam-heavy approach early on.
The set continued with “Likes of Me”, “Harbor of Love”, and “Slow Train” before “Escanaba” and “Psycho” built momentum heading into the evening’s first major statement. The 17-plus-minute “Meet Me at the Creek” that closed the opening frame proved to be merely a preview of the experimental direction the band would take throughout the night, setting a high bar that the second set would somehow exceed.
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Set two opened with “Show Me The Door” and “Seven Weeks in County”—the latter featuring a tease of Ennio Morricone‘s “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” theme—before delivering “Freeborn Man” and “Along the Road”, the Dan Fogelberg cover making its first appearance in 67 shows since April 2025.
The set’s most ambitious stretch came with the pairing of “Highway Hypnosis” and “Gild the Lily”. “Highway Hypnosis” stretched past ten minutes with extensive looping that created hypnotic, trance-like layers, while “Gild the Lily” reached the 12-minute mark, the two songs totaling 22 minutes of fearless exploration.
The set also featured mandolinist Jarrod Walker sharing vocals with Strings on “Salty Dog Blues” before closing with one last big jam on “Wargasm”. Strings brought the evening to a close with “The Beginning of the End” as the lone encore.
While Thursday’s opener carried significant emotional weight—Strings broke his long hiatus from Grateful Dead material to honor Weir, who passed away in January at 78, with encore performances of “Me & My Uncle” and “Cassidy”, and also paid tribute to Widespread Panic on the band’s 40th anniversary—Friday’s show demonstrated how Strings continues to carry forward the improvisational spirit of both bands while elevating the bluegrass tradition to new heights with technical virtuosity and a willingness to push songs into uncharted territory.
Check out video highlights from Friday’s show along with full-show audio and photos by Alex Culbreth. Next up, Strings and company will head to Asheville’s ExploreAsheville.com Arena for a four-night run February 10th–14th. Tickets are sold out, but you can tune in for a subscriber-exclusive livestream on nugs. Not subscribed yet? Sign up here. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your subscription or purchasing a download via the links on this page helps support our work covering the world of live music. Thanks for reading!]
Billy Strings – “Leaning On A Travelin’ Song”, “In The Clear” – 2/7/26
Billy Strings – “Meet Me At The Creek” – 2/7/26
[Video: MrTopdogger]
Billy Strings – “Wargasm” – 2/7/26
[Video: MrTopdogger]
Billy Strings – Akins Ford Arena – Athens, GA – 2/7/26 – Full Audio
[Audio: Zmanatl]
Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | Akins Ford Arena | Athens, GA | 2/7/26
Set One: Leaning On A Travelin’ Song, In The Clear, Ashland Breakdown, John Deere Tractor, Ernest T. Grass, Must Be Seven, Likes Of Me, Harbor Of Love, Slow Train, Escanaba, Psycho, Meet Me At The Creek
Set Two: Show Me The Door, Seven Weeks In County [1], Freeborn Man, Along The Road [2], Streamline Cannonball, Love Like Me, Highway Hypnosis, Gild The Lily, Salty Dog Blues [3], Wargasm
Encore: The Beginning Of The End
[1] “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” (Ennio Morricone) tease
[2] Last Time Played 2025-04-18 | 67 show gap
[3] Billy Strings and Jarrod Walker shared vocals
