After a memorable Friday-night gig, Billy Strings returned to the Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday for his second of two sold-out shows.

Strings and company (bassist Royal Masat, mandolinist Jarrod Walker and banjoist Billy Failing) kicked off the evening with “Taking Water,” the lead track off Strings’ 2019 release Home.

From there, the guitar wiz led his band on a pair of classic, Bill Monroe favorites – “Shenandoah Valley Breakdown” and “Sweet Blue Eyed Darlin’” – before returning to his own songbook on “While I’m Waiting Here.”

A bit later, Strings offered a cover of “Me and My Uncle,” changing a lyric to fit his urban surroundings and singing “As honest as a Brooklyn man can be.”

Strings closed his first half with the title track of his 2017 LP Turmoil & Tinfoil and opened his second set with another cut off that LP, “On The Line.”

A quick segue into the Stanley Brothers favorite “Train 45” followed, but Strings was also sure to throw in some more modern covers, like a fun-filled version of Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty.”

A set closing version of “Meet Me at The Creek” was perhaps the most dynamic tune of the night, containing teases of everything from the bluegrass standard “Eat My Dust” (which Strings previously played alongside David Grisman) to CKY’s “96 Quite Bitter Beings” to the theme song to Inspector Gadget.

For the encore, Strings and his band huddled around a single microphone for his original “Freedom.”

“We’re going to try this old-school singing into the can here,” Strings told the crowd, before the quartet launched into the harmony-filled tune.

“Thank you all so much! We love you!” he exclaimed before taking his final bow.

Check out the full setlist and watch the “Freedom” finale (via YouTuber Suwannee HD Streams) below:

Billy Strings
Nov. 16, 2019
Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY

Set I: Taking Water, Shenandoah Valley Breakdown> Sweet Blue Eyed Darlin’, While I’m Waiting Here, Running, Me and My Uncle^, Long Forgotten Dream, Enough to Leave, New Camptown Races> Unwanted in Love, Turmoil & Tinfoil

Set II: On the Line> Train 45, Running on Empty, Thirst Mutilator> So Many Miles, Watch it Fall, Takin’ a Slow Train, Away from the Mire, Home, Meet Me at the Creek*+%

Enc: Freedom

Notes:
^ Lyric change”As honest as a Brooklyn man can be”
* “Eat My Dust” teases
+ “Inspector Gadget Theme” jam
% “96 Quite Bitter Beings” teases