Billy Strings headed to his native Michigan on Tuesday to join Phish at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena for an extended sit-in. Although Strings and Phish’s Trey Anastasio have collaborated on various occasions in the past, this marked the bluegrass star’s first onstage appearance with Phish.
While much of this summer’s Phish tour itinerary has featured familiar venues from the band’s modern era, a two-night run at the Grand Rapids arena—the band’s first trip to the venue since 1998—has stood out on the schedule as a “shakeup stop” since the tour was announced back in February. Adding to the pre-show novelty factor, lighting designer Chris Kuroda posted on X earlier in the day on Tuesday that the first of two Grand Rapids shows would mark his 1,800th night behind the lighting console for Phish.
Tonight. August 6th,2024 Grand Rapids, MI. My 1800th show lighting Phish. Completely Insane 🙂
— Chris Kuroda (@Chrisck5) August 6, 2024
Coming off a stellar, jam-heavy three-night stint at Noblesville, IN’s Ruoff Music Center Deer Creek this past weekend, which made a strong case for “run of the tour,” Phish appeared to be primed and ready to continue its summer ’24 onslaught in Michigan. But while patient, organic bouts of improvisation highlighted the Deer Creek shows, Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Page McConnell, and Jon Fishman (in an orange dress with yellow donuts) seemed to be in a bit of a rush as they waded into Tuesday’s first set with the first “Strawberry Letter 23” (Shuggie Otis) of the year, the second “Sigma Oasis” of the summer, and their first domestic rendition of Frank Zappa‘s “Peaches en Regalia” (which featured Shuggie Otis on bass for its initial 1969 recording) since 2017.
The brisk pace of set one continued with relatively unremarkable renditions of “Tube” and “Theme From the Bottom”, but eventually found its stride with an initially shaky but ultimately dynamic “Stash”. Now we’re in business…
“Alright, so good to be here,” Trey said when “Stash” was finished, bowing and waving to the crowd with a glint of excitement in his smile. From there, the band called for the first “Train Song” of 2024, perhaps a nod to the rumored guest for the evening (those Billy fans do love their trains, after all).
The short and sweet “Train Song” ride moved into a gurgling, red-light “Steam” and a jaunty “Rift” before the band brought the first frame to a close with an explosive “Bathtub Gin” jam that pushed to nearly 16 minutes in length under rising firefly orbs of light from the 1,800-show veteran LD. Good stuff.
While the start of set two is typically the home of a given show’s most expansive improvisation, the “Free” and “Sand” that occupied the set’s first and second slots both eschewed extended jams, clocking in at under eight minutes apiece. The “Ruby Waves” that followed aimed to redeem that absent improv element as Fishman pushed the vessel into the spray. A descending, major-key Trey riff added some fuel to Gordon’s low-end engine before Trey steered the band toward a beautiful, cresting climax.
An unusually placed mid-set “Harry Hood”, typically reserved for show-closing duties, remained delicate and emotive en route to its characteristically cathartic peak—as if to say, “Okay, this part of the show is done. Now, it’s time for something different…”
As blue mood lighting adorned the stage, a tech could be seen bringing out an additional microphone. “We’ve got a good friend of ours [coming] to join us up here,” Trey told the crowd. “A little local musician, you might know this guy.”
“Howwwdyyyy!” Billy crowed as he made his entrance.
With that, Michigan native Billy Strings, PRS in hand, joined in on a rendition of “The Moma Dance” that built to a towering, Allman Brothers Band-like peak before the potent guitar combo of Strings and Anastasio pushed the jam to a “Samson and Delilah”-reminiscent apex just past the 23-minute mark.
Phish w/ Billy Strings – “The Moma Dance” – 8/6/24
[Video: Curty kobashiy]
After an approving fist-pump from Trey, the quintet moved into “Possum” featuring Billy on lead vocals, the two guitarists pushing each other further into howling rock interplay. “Everything’s Right” followed from there. While Trey took his normal role in the spotlight to start, a dual-guitar breakdown served as the catalyst for another blissful launch into uncharted territory.
Phish w/ Billy Strings – “Possum” [Pro-Shot] – 8/6/24
Phish w/ Billy Strings – “Everything’s Right” [Pro-Shot] – 8/6/24
“Billy Strings!” Trey said simply as the lights came up. “Thanks, everybody!”
When the band returned to the stage for the encore, Billy Strings was once again in tow. This time, both Trey and Billy grabbed acoustic guitars to take fans through the younger guitarist’s usual neck of the stylistic woods with a rendition of grass staple “Nellie Kane” (Hot Rize) featuring Strings on lead vocals.
“We’ll try this one,” Strings said as he counted the band into another bluegrass selection from the live Phish songbook, The Del McCoury Band‘s “Beauty of My Dreams”, with Billy and Trey sharing lead vocals. With time running down, Billy and Trey once again strapped on electric guitars and plugged in for a seething, snarling “Carini”.
Phish w/ Billy Strings – “Nellie Kane” (Hot Rize), “Beauty of My Dreams” (Del McCoury), “Carini” – 8/6/24
[Video: Curty kobashiy]
This show will undoubtedly be on repeat for many fans (and multiple fanbases) for a long time to come. All six songs featuring Billy were thoroughly unique. The way the two guitar aces onstage pushed each other to go further, run faster, was thoroughly thrilling.
Phish fans tend to have strong feelings about sit-ins one way or another, and this one may not appeal to purists, but the Billy Strings sit-in at Van Andel Arena undoubtedly made for a memorable night of music and a world-class showing of rock interplay—one clearly appreciated by the musicians onstage. The excitement on Trey’s face was infectious throughout the collaboration, and Billy clearly felt the same: As Strings, real name William Apostol, responded to a post-show thread in a Phish fan Facebook group suggesting that he “rips harder” than Trey, “Come on 😂 .. I was in class up there.”
This is the kind of anything-can-happen, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it connection that only comes around once in a blue moon but makes an indelible mark on the surrounding mythology for years to come.
It’s quite likely that Tuesday’s Phish/Billy Strings combo is a one-time ordeal. Then again… Phish is set to return to Van Andel Arena on Wednesday night, and we know that Billy is in town. You never know what might happen.
Phish returns to Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids on Wednesday to round out a two-night run. For a complete list of upcoming Phish tour dates, head here.
Fans can purchase the pay-per-view webcast of the Grand Rapids show featuring Billy Strings via LivePhish here to re-watch pro-shot video of the entire performance. [Note: Live For Live Music is a LivePhish affiliate. Ordering your webcast via the links on this page helps support our work covering Phish and the world of live music as a whole. Thanks for reading!]
Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Van Andel Arena | Grand Rapids, MI | 8/6/24
Set One: Strawberry Letter 23 > Sigma Oasis, Peaches en Regalia, Tube, Theme From the Bottom > Stash, Train Song, Steam > Rift > Bathtub Gin
Set Two: Free, Sand > Ruby Waves > Harry Hood, The Moma Dance [1], Possum [1] Everything’s Right [1]
Encore: Nellie Kane [2], Beauty of My Dreams [2], Carini [1]
[1] with Billy Strings (electric guitar, vocals)
[2] with Billy Strings (acoustic guitar, vocals), Trey on acoustic guitar.
Notes: Peaches en Regalia was played for the first time since February 24, 2022 (115 shows). The lyrics of Moma Dance were sung twice, with the change “I still gaze and glimpse you” the second time, accompanied by a Fishman “Still?!” sample.
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