Photo Credit: Jesse Faatz

Last night, Billy Strings descended upon the Windy City to perform at the Lollapalooza Aftershow, ahead of his official festival set on the T-Mobile Stage at Chicago’s Grant Park, located in the city’s central business distinct. Yesterday’s concert included an extensive list of cover songs, including a revised take on Bill Monroe’s “The Gold Rush” dubbed “Gold Rush 3000” during the night’s encore. For Strings’ take on Monroe’s 1968 number, he delivered the chords on a Casio DG-20 Synth guitar.

Strings’ first set got underway with a solo take on the original tune, “Guitar Peace,” before the rest of the band took the stage for the night’s first cover, a take on Pink Floyd’s 1971 track “Fearless.” Next, they played the Muleskinner’s instrumental “New Camptown Races,” which segued into David Grisman’s “Unwanted Love.” Next, the ensemble shifted towards Strings’ Turmoil & Tinfoil repertoire with “All of Tomorrow” before returning with a cover of The Doc Watson Family’s “Salt Creek,” which bled into Doc & Merle Watson’s “Sheeps in the Meadow.” 

The bluegrass prodigy continued with Jack Bonus’ “The Hobo Song,” popularized by Old & In the Way. “Lumpy, Beanpole & Dirt,” a tune by Bad Livers, arrived ahead of Crystal Gayle’s “Ready for the Times to Get Better.” The first set continued with additional covers, including Ralph Stanley’s “I’ve Just Seen the Rock of Ages” and a rendition of The String Cheese Incident’s seminal track, “Black Clouds,” to wrap String’s initial set. 

Set two picked up with Strings and Billy Failings dueling instruments on the original “Dos Banjos.” The band followed up with the traditional “Red Rocking Chair” before moving through the original “I’ll Be Gone a Long Time.” Next, the ensemble performed another standard number, “Shady Grove,” before following with The Stanley Brothers’ “Train 45.” The latter segued into The Osborne Brothers’ “Ruby Are You Mad,” then they continued the set with a take on Pearl Jam’s “In Hiding” before playing Failing’s “So Many Miles.” 

The second set carried the original “Dealing Despair,” followed by an infrequent take on the Garcia and Grisman song, “Dreadful Wind & Rain,” before moving into “Libby Philips Rag.” Next, they covered two Jeff Austin tunes, “Fiddling Around” and “15 Steps,” somewhere in the mix; Strings jumped into the audience and proceeded to crowd surf amid a guitar solo before returning to the stage and finishing the song’s instrumentals. Watch the video below.

For the night’s encore, Strings launched into an updated take on Bill Monroe’s original “The Gold Rush” before moving on to the second number, “Van Scoy Jingle,” sung by the group on a single mic. Then, for the final song of Strings’ Lollapalooza Aftershow gig, he and his band played “Freedom,” a tune off his 2019 album, Home. 

For those unable to attend Strings’ Lollapalooza set in person, streaming options are available via Hulu. Strings is expected to take the stage at 7:30 p.m. ET. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Billy Strings (@billystrings)

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Billy Strings (@billystrings)

Billy Strings 

Grant Park – Chicago 

July 27, 2022 

Set I: Guitar Peace > Fearless, New Camptown Races&, Unwanted Love^, All of Tomorrow, Salt Creek% > Sheeps in the Meadow$, The Hobo Song#, Lumpy, Beanpole & Dirt@, Ready for the Times to Get Better!, I’ve Just Seen the Rock of Ages~, Black Clouds?

Set II: Dos Banjos, Red Rocking Chair=, I’ll Be Gone a Long Time, Shady Grove=, Train 45+, Ruby Are You Mad-, In Hiding1, So Many Miles > Dealing Despair, Dreadful Wind & Rain/, Libby Philips Rag, Fiddling Around2, 15 Steps2, Train, Train3

Enc.: Gold Rush 3000, Van Scoy Jingle, Freedom

Notes: 

* Pink Floyd cover 

& Muleskinner cover 

^ David Grisman cover 

% The Doc Watson Family cover 

$ Doc & Merle Watson cover 

# Jack Bonus cover 

@ Bad Livers cover

! Crystal Gayle cover 

~ Ralph Stanley cover 

? The String Cheese Incident cover 

= Traditional 

+ The Stanely Brothers cover 

– The Osborne Brothers cover 

1 Pearl Jam cover 

/ Jerry Garcia and David Grisman cover 

2 Jeff Austin cover 

3 Blackfoot cover