The formidable touring outfit collectively known as Billy Strings has scaled back operations in recent years, opting for fewer shows at larger arenas rather than many shows at smaller theaters. So it was an increasingly rare treat for the newly christened weekend warrior and his band to stop in Tulsa, OK on Tuesday for a one-off show at the BOK Center.

Though each Billy Strings concert is its own unique little snowflake, those who attended Billy’s one previous concert at the BOK Center on June 7th, 2023 no doubt had some deja vu as Strings, Billy Failing, Royal Masat, Jarrod Walker, and Alex Hargreaves rocketed through the 23-song performance. Six songs from Billy’s expansive live repertoire appeared at both BOK shows, including “On the Line” which opened each respective evening, along with “Doin’ Things Right”, “Wargasm”, “Heartbeat of America”, Roy Acuff‘s “Streamline Cannonball”, and J.J. Cale‘s “Ride Me High”. Though some of the songs remained the same, Billy Strings and company delivered each with an energy and ferocity that would be impossible to replicate.

Related: Watch Billy Strings Audition To Be Primus’ New Drummer

Two of the repeated songs proved to be some of the show’s biggest highlights, with “Doin’ Things Right” anchoring Billy Strings’ first set and “Ride Me High” serving as a walk-off set two closer. The rowdy tenacity of the 13-minute “Doin’ Things Right” provided the inertia to propel the band through a continuous run of Bill Monroe‘s “Southern Flavor” and original “Dealing Despair”. On the more mind-altering side of the spectrum, the penultimate “Highway Hypnosis” of set one sent Billy and his bandmates down the psychedelic path that would extend into the second set with the always-trippy “Heartbeat of America”.

Billy Strings — “On The Line”, “I’ll Remember You, Love”, “In My Prayers” (Will S. Hays), “Hellbender”, “Doin’ Things Right” [Pro-Shot] — 12/10/24

Billy Strings and company truly saved the best for last with the second set-closing “Ride Me High”. The Widespread Panic-favored J.J. Cale cover had not been seen since 4/20 in St. Augustine, and its return on Tuesday was met with a joyous roar from the packed arena which still showed plenty of life nearly three hours into the evening. An eerie, ambient intro took its time to develop and only built anticipation before Billy kicked into the familiar guitar hook.

The closing “Ride Me High” highlighted the best of both worlds from Tuesday’s Billy Strings show, as the pugnacious energy of “Doin’ Things Right” intertwined with the psychedelia of “Highway Hypnosis”. At the crescendo of the jam, Strings utilized a memory pedal to record an elastic descending riff that he then mined for spaces in between—improvising with himself for even more Strings. Following the 14-minute take, the only thing left for Billy and his band to do was bid farewell with Highway Prayers closer and newfound perennial “see ya later” song “The Beginning of the End”.

Billy Strings’ tour continues this week with a string a shows in Texas. Find tickets and tour dates on Ticketmaster and StubHub or CashOrTrade. Stream video and audio from Tuesday’s Tulsa show on nugs.net. Not subscribed? Sign up here to access these and other subscriber-exclusive livestreams in addition to an extensive catalog of live concert recordings. [Editor’s Note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your nugs subscription or purchasing a download/Billy Strings livestream via the links on this page helps support our coverage of the world of live music. Thank you for reading!]

Billy Strings — BOK Center — Tulsa, OK — 12/10/24 — Full Audio

Setlist: Billy Strings | BOK Center | Tulsa, OK | 12/10/24

Set One: On The Line, I’ll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers (Will S. Hays), Hellbender, Doin’ Things Right > Southern Flavor (Bill Monroe) > Dealing Despair, Miss The Mississippi And You (Bill Halley), Escanaba, Highway Hypnosis, Richard Petty [1]
Set Two: Leadfoot [2], In Case You Ever Change Your Mind (Bill Anderson) [3], Slipstream (Béla Fleck), Wargasm, Enough To Leave, Lumpy, Beanpole, & Dirt (Bad Livers), Hollow Heart, Heartbeat Of America, Streamline Cannonball (Roy Acuff), Dark Hollow (Bill Browning), Running, Ride Me High (J.J. Cale)
Encore: The Beginning of the End

[1] Billy, Billy, Jarrod, and Royal around single mic
[2] Billy on his Masterton ML-1: Missing Link Béla Fleck Baritone Banjo & Billy Failing on Guitar
[3] Last Time Played 2023-11-18 | 62 Shows