Photos by Jesse Faatz

Billy Strings made his headlining debut at the historic Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Saturday night, performing three diverse sets to a strictly virtual audience.

Naturally, as been one of the first artists to offer such online experiences earlier this summer in Nashville, Strings embraced the crowdless atmosphere with gusto.

He kicked off the show with a nod to his bluegrass roots, playing the traditional “Red Rocking Chair,” before acknowledging the genre’s current jamgrass revivalists with Greensky Bluegrass’ “A Letter to Seymour.”

The covers kept coming in the second set as Strings followed his own “Meet Me at the Creek” with the Garcia-Hunter classic “To Lay Me Down.”

“What I learned from Jerry was the freedom of filling the empty space,” Strings recently told Relix. “He also taught me about boundaries and that music has none. You can play jazz, rock-and-roll, acoustic music, bluegrass, whatever you want. It’s just all there. It’s all music and you can play it on any instrument.”

Other highlights included a set three-opening version of The Beatles’ White Album standout “Rocky Raccoon” as well as a show-closing trio of “Pyramid Country”> “Ride Me High”> “Little Maggie.”

Check out the full setlist and photos below:

Billy Strings
Sept. 26, 2020
Red Rocks, Morrison, Colo.

Set I: Red Rocking Chair, Doin’ Things Right, Southern Flavor, Haul de Woodpile Down, Home, Willie Roy, A Letter to Seymour, Watch It Fall, Away From the Mire

Set II: Dos Banjos, Hollow Heart, Broomstraw Philosophers and Scuppernong Wine, Meet Me at the Creek, To Lay Me Down, Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine, Running, Love Like Me

Set III: Rocky Raccoon, Taking Water, Tipper, Long Forgotten Dream, Highway Hypnosis, Mr. Charlie, Turmoil & Tinfoil, A Good Woman’s Love, Pyramid Country> Ride Me High> Little Maggie