Billy Strings crashed his own afterparty on Saturday when he appeared at the Dopapod late show at Union Stage. The Washington, D.C. concert followed Strings’ performance at The Anthem next door, and also saw appearances from members of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Parliament-Funkadelic/The Muthafunkaholx.

Following a set from openers The Muthafunkaholx (which hosts several members of George Clinton‘s backing band), Dopapod took the stage for a tour-closing single-set performance. Rifling through beloved originals like part two of “Weird Charlie”, “Velcro”, “Plaese Haalp”, and “Picture in Picture”, the first sit-in of the evening arrived when Greg Boyer (P-Funk) chimed in on “Bats in the Cave”. Dopapod got acquainted with the extended Parliament-Funkadelic family over the summer when they traveled together on the One Nation Under A Groove Tour.

Boyer stuck around on the following Sly and the Family Stone cover “If You Want Me to Stay” and was joined by his bandmates Garrett Shider (Starchild jr.) on vocals and Benzel Cowan on percussion. Cowan also had the honor of delivering the improvised monologue in “Best Friends”, the open-ended Chuck Jones original about all the things you do for your buddies.

The guests kept on coming as Alex “Gator” Petropulos and Jeremy Schon of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong joined in on the penultimate “Freight Train”. With the influx of musicians onstage, guitarist Rob Compa took a turn on the bass for the proceeding jam before the core four of Dopapod closed out with “Nerds”.

Just as jam fans finally recovered from Billy Strings’ historic sit-in with Goose and Trey Anastasio Band on Thursday in Fairfax, VA, the bluegrass guitarist made another surprise appearance as he joined Dopapod for an “8 Years Ended” encore. Opting for an electric guitar over his traditional acoustic, Strings and Compa brought the show to a fiery conclusion as they traded incendiary licks back and forth.

Check out a clip of Billy Strings performing “8 Years Ended” with Dopapod on Saturday in Washington, D.C.

Dopapod, Billy String – “8 Years Ended” – 11/19/22

[Video: Grant Glatfelter]

Dopapod, Greg Boyer – “Bats in the Cave” – 11/19/22

[Video: The MuthafunkaholX]

Setlist: Dopapod | Union Stage | Washington, D.C. | 11/19/22

Set: Weird Charlie Pt 2 > Velcro, Plaese Haalp, Picture in Picture, Bats in the Cave*, If You Want Me to Stay^, Trapper Keeper, Fannie > Best Friends%, Freight Train# > Nerds

Encore: 8 Years Ended+

*w/ Greg Boyer from P Funk on trombone
^Sly and the Family Stone cover; w/ Garrett Shider (Starchild jr.) on vocals, Greg Boyer on Trombone, and Benzel Cowan on percussion, all from P Funk and The MuthaFunkaholX
%w/ Benzel Cowan on narration
#w/ Alex “Gator” Petropulos and Jeremy Schon from Pigeons Playing Ping Pong on drums and guitar, respectively; Rob played bass in the jam
+w/ Billy Strings on guitar