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Old 12-12-2021, 11:21 PM
jklotz jklotz is offline
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Default I saw Billy Strings tonight

It was a really good show.





A few observations:

The crowd was a huge mix of people. Old and young. It seemed to really span the gamut. I couldn't help but think of Brian Setzer (stray cats), back when I was a kid, made an almost forgotten genre cool again.

He's really ventured into the jam band thing. Lot's of tie dye, pachuli oil and the smell of weed. He seemed to go from traditional bluegrass into a jam thing effortlessly. 1:30 bluegrass songs went on for 4 or 5 minutes.

It was really loud. Glad I brought my ear plugs. It occurred to me early on that it must have been a silent stage with in ear monitors. No way anybody could have gotten that volume with all those effects on those acoustic instruments without feedback otherwise.

He's a really good showman. I'd imagine the next opportunity I'll get to see him will be in a much bigger venue with a much higher ticket price.

The whole band was great. I could tell they were all very sophisticated musicians. The solos had hints of jazz, rock, country and 3rd world music. They dressed like hillbillies, but it wouln't surprise me if these guys were Berkley and Juliard grads.

It was a tradition bluegrass lineup, stand up bass, mandolin, fiddle, banjo and guitar. (no dobro) I'm guessing there are some drummers out there that hope this doesn't get to be a thing.

Every one of them sang, the vocal harmonies were spot on.

Overall, a great show. Maybe a little too "jam band" for my tastes, but well worth seeing. Great musicians.

Oh, and I had heard rumors previously, but I guess I now have confirmation:

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Old 12-13-2021, 07:34 AM
derekbertman derekbertman is offline
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My wife went to the Thursday night show.

A couple years back '17-18 maybe; I worked security for his show at the Earl and had no idea who he was at the time. Put on a great show that night too.
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Old 12-13-2021, 09:17 AM
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Mr. Jelly Mr. Jelly is offline
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I saw a show by a group called Whiskey Mash the other night. They put on an awesome show. The dread guitar had a good sound system sound. It really came through. I was surprised to see a pedal board that looked like a rock star's board though. I see Billy Strings has one also.
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Old 12-13-2021, 11:10 AM
Mandobart Mandobart is online now
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We used to catch him at the Wintergass festival when he was just breaking onto the national stage a few years back. He is a great player and showman. I doubt we'll be able to catch him there again.
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Old 12-13-2021, 04:02 PM
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KenL KenL is offline
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He played a two-day festival up here in central Colorado last summer. I hadn't heard of him yet so I didn't go.

Found out afterwards that I missed a heckuva show. I've checked him out since, so if he comes back I'll be sure to go this time.
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Old 03-30-2022, 05:16 PM
boombox boombox is offline
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Resurrecting this thread as I too saw Billy Strings recently - at his first proper London show on Saturday night. Without doubt, my favourite show in at least the past five years. As the OP says, his show owes much to the jamband genre (I'd love to see a Billy Strings Cheese Incident) - it was pretty much an all night dance party without a drummer in sight. He is, of course, a heck of a guitar player, but the whole band were really good too. He opened with 'Slow Train', ended the first set with 'Dust In A Baggie', threw in some bluegrass standards and closed the show with Pink Floyd's 'Brain Damage', but some of the jamming was indescribably good: 'Must Be Seven' into 'Hide & Seek' was just crazy and the nearly 18 minute 'All Fall Down' by John Hartford? I remain speechless. His new album, Renewal, is definitely my album of the year so far, but live, the songs took on another life.

I can't make the return trip on December 7th, but will definitely try to do a couple of dates when he starts to play a bit more around the country. Anyone sitting on the fence about seeing him, you don't know what you are missing.
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