Last night, Greensky Bluegrass continued to prove that they’re among the most exciting live bands out there today, putting on an impressive performance on the third and final night of their run at Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club. After another great opening set from Portland quintet Fruition, Greensky opened their performance with an excellent run through “Bring Out Your Dead,” off their 2011 release Handguns. “Less Than Supper” followed, before the band dove into “Burn Them” with Kevin Gregory on tambourine, marking the first of many guest sit-ins during the show.
Next, the band delivered a “What’s Left Of The Night” > “Miss September” one-two punch followed by renditions of Jimmy Martin‘s “Hit Parade of Love” and “200 Miles From Montana” from 2008’s Five Interstates. The band closed the first set with a must-hear “Broke Mountain Breakdown” infused with a cover of Jimi Hendrix classic “The Wind Cries Mary.”
Greensky opened set two with “Past My Prime” and “Ride or Die” from last year’s Shouted, Written Down, & Quoted. From there, the band began a seamless segment of tunes, segueing into a cover of Bruce Springsteen‘s “Wings For Wheels” followed by a fantastic Grateful Dead sandwich that saw the band inject a cover of “Eyes of the World” into Handguns cut “Don’t Lie.” “Merely Avoiding” came next, followed by “Demons” featuring Gregory, Guido Batista, and Fruition’s Mimi Naja. Next, the band launched into “Jaywalking” with Fruition drummer Tyler Thompson. By the end of the “Jaywalking,” the rest of Fruition had joined Thompson and Greensky onstage for a stomping version of Fruition’s “Death Comes Knockin'” led by Naja on vocals. Finally, the Fruition-Greensky tag team closed the set with Bob Dylan‘s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying With You.”
Thanks to Taper Jeff on archive.org, you can enjoy full audio of the performance:
Setlist: Greensky Bluegrass | The 9:30 Club | Washington, D.C. | 2/4/17
Set 1: Bring Out Your Dead, Less Than Supper, Burn Them (1), What’s Left of the Night > Miss September, Hit Parade of Love, Nine Days, 200 Miles From Montana, Broke Mountain Breakdown > Wind Cries Mary >Broke Mountain Breakdown
Set 2: Past My Prime, Run or Die > Wings For Wheels >Don’t Lie >Eyes of the World >Don’t Lie, Merely Avoiding, Demons (2) (3), Jaywalking (4) (5)> Big Shot (4), Death Comes Knockin (6), Tonight I’ll Be Staying With You (6)
(1) – Kevin Gregory on tambourine
(2) – w/ Mimi Naja, Kevin Gregory, & Guido Batista on Demon Dance
(3) – lyric change to “Molly Groat and Christian Schauman”
(4) – w/ Tyler Thompson on drums
(5) – unfinished
(6) – w/ Mimi Naja, Jay Cobb Anderson, Kellen Asebrook, Tyler Thompson
You can catch Greensky and Fruition next this Tuesday and Wednesday at the Rex Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA. For a full list of dates, visit Greensky Bluegrass’s website.