Billy Strings returned to the stage inside The Capitol Theatre on Tuesday night for the fifth performance of his six-night Deja Vu Experiment virtual residency at the storied Port Chester, NY venue.
Following a well-deserved night off on Monday after performing nights one, two, three, and four over the weekend, Strings and his band returned in force on Tuesday for the penultimate show of the ongoing run which was devised as an homage to the Grateful Dead‘s famous run of shows at “The Cap” in 1971.
Strings and his band opened Tuesday’s virtual concert with “Taking Water” from 2019’s Home, which transitioned into the live debut of a new original entitled “Ice Bridges”. Strings then dove headfirst into the Grateful Dead songbook for a take on the band’s beloved country tune “Dire Wolf”, followed by a cover of Bill Monroe‘s “The Gold Rush” and Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs‘ “Bringin’ in the Georgia Mail”.
The set continued with move covers including performances of The Stanley Brothers‘ “A Robin Built a Nest on Daddy’s Grave”, Jimmy Martin‘s “Sophronie”, a rendition of Jerry Garcia‘s heart-wrenching ballad “To Lay Me Down” that would have brought a tear to a glass eye, and even Bill Browning and His Echo Valley Boys‘ “Dark Hollow”–a country tune covered by the Grateful Dead on notable occasion over the years.
Watch Strings’ show-opening performances of “Taking Water”, “Ice Bridges” and “Dire Wolf” from Tuesday’s webcast in the video below.
Billy Strings – “Taking Water” > “Ice Bridges”, “Dire Wolf” – 2/23/21
[Video: Billy Strings]
Strings returned to open the second set with the debut of another new original, “Fire Line”, before continuing with more covers with takes on John Hartford‘s “I’m Still Here” right into Peter Rowan‘s “Midnight Moonlite”, which also boasts quasi-Dead ties as a former regular-rotation song for the Jerry Garcia Band. Strings returned to the world of the Dead later on in the set for a performance of From the Mars Hotel ballad “China Doll” before closing the show with a cover of Danny Barnes‘ “Pretty Daughter” and fan-favorite original “Away From The Mire”, one of the highlights of his Grammy-nominated 2019 album, HOME.
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Strings and his band will return for the sixth and final night of the run on Wednesday, which will stream for free on The Relix Channel Twitch beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Setlist: Billy Strings | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 2/23/21
Set One: Taking Water > Ice bridges*, Dire Wolf (Grateful Dead cover), The Gold Rush (Bill Monroe cover) > Bringin’ in the Georgia Mail (Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs cover), Watch It Fall, A Robin Built a Nest on Daddy’s Grave (The Stanley Brothers cover) > Sophronie (Jimmy Martin cover), To Lay Me Down (Jerry Garcia cover), Dark Hollow (Bill Browning and His Echo Valley Boys cover)
Set Two: Fire Line*, I’m Still Here (John Hartford cover) > Midnite Moonlite (Peter Rowan cover), Kentucky Waltz (Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys), Will You Be Loving Another Man (Héctor Varela cover), China Doll (Grateful Dead cover), Pretty Daughter (Danny Barnes cover), Away From The Mire
Notes:
* First Time Played