Photo via @billystrings on IG

Billy Strings celebrated the new year in his home state of Michigan, ringing in 2020 with a single show at The Intersection in Grand Rapids.

The gig kicked off with arguably Strings’ best known tune, “Dust in a Baggie” and continued with his Turmoil & Tinfoil cut “While I’m Waiting Here.”

The first half also contained the live debuts of “Crown of Thorns,” “Fiddlin’ Around” and “Enter The Dragon,” the last of which emerged within Strings’ set-closing, “Turmoil & Tinfoil” jam.

For their second set, Strings and his band donned gold hats and capes and dubbed themselves the “Stay Gold Pony Bluegrass Boys” before kicking things off with “Everything’s The Same” off their 2019 Home LP.

Other highlights from the second frame included the band’s first-ever version of bluegrass standard “Dusty Miller” as well as a countdown to the new year sandwiched by the traditional “Red Rocking Chair” and the very-appropriate “20/20 Vision,” first recorded in the ’50s by Gene Autry and popularized by Bob Dylan. (“20/20 Vision” was also a live debut for Strings.)

A mid-set “Brokedown Palace” satisfied all the Deadheads in attendance and, later, the show closed with a hefty “Meet Me at the Creek” jam, which returned once again to “Enter the Dragon” and even contained elements of “Samson and Delilah.”

Strings and his band encored with their single-mic original “Freedom.”

“2019 was a big year for us! We’re blown away by your dedication, love and support,” Strings wrote via Instagram the following morning. “We’re so grateful that y’all chose to spend your New Year’s Eve with us last night.”

Stream the entire show on nugs.net here.

Watch Strings and company cover “Brokedown Palace” via YouTuber Jim Bauw, and check out their full 12/31 setlist below:

Billy Strings
Dec. 31, 2019
The Intersection, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Set I: Dust in a Baggie, While I’m Waiting Here, Pyramid Country, Little Maggie, Crown Of Thorns^, Hollow Heart, Fiddlin’ Around^, Home, Old Train, Turmoil & Tinfoil> Enter The Dragon^> Turmoil & Tinfoil

Set II: Everything’s the Same, I’m Still Here, Last Train to Clarksville, Thirst Mutilator, So Many Miles, Dusty Miller^, Highway Hypnosis, Red Rocking Chair, 20/20 Vision^, Long Forgotten Dream, Brokedown Palace, Away From the Mire, Slow Train, Meet Me at the Creek> Enter The Dragon> Meet Me at the Creek

Enc: Freedom

Notes:
^live debut