Last night, Feb. 2, Billy Strings performed his first show of 2023 at The 1STBANK Center, 15 miles northwest of Downtown Denver, in the city of Broomfield, Colo. The show marked the first of three sold-out performances set for the arena and saw Strings move through his ever-expanding discography.
Strings and his merry crew of mischiefs opened the evening with a pairing of “Highway Hypnosis” with “Back Up and Push.” After the traditional, they played Strings’ 2021 heater, “Show Me the Door,” followed by a jam of “Must Be Seven” into “Hide and Seek.” Fretboard fireworks continued with the plucking “I’ll Be Gone a Long Time,” which was followed by the envious lyrics of “My Alice.” The continued with a cover of Darol Anger’s “Key Signator” before a closing run of “Taking Water” > Frank Wakefield’s “End of the Rainbow” into “Reuben’s Train.”
After roaring applause and a short pause, Strings returned to the stage without his band to showcase the individual talent that has brought him so far. He opened the frame with “Mackinac Rag,” which melded into his folk tale about fishing with Vince Herman, “Catch & Release.” Next, Strings played tribute to Groundhog’s day with a cover of Doc Watson’s “Groundhog” and gave Watson a bit more love by also covering The Doc Watson Family’s “Brown’s Ferry Blues.” Still solo on stage, Strings ripped into “Guitar Peace,” which melded into a pristine cover of Pink Floyd’s “Fearless.”
The band then rejoined Strings in front of the sold-out 6,500-capacity venue for “Red Daisy” > “On the Line” > “Away From the Mire.” The ensemble continued onward with “Long Forgotten Dream” and kicked up dust on a cover of John P. Kee’s “Standing in the Need of Prayer.” Strings and company continued with a line of covers moving to Jeff Austin’s “Run Down” and the traditional “The Old Mountaineer” before finding their way to New Grass Revival’s “This Heart of Mine.” “Pyramid Country” served as the evenings before a penultimate song before they closed the frame “Little Maggie.” After a short pause, the band returned for one more song, “Come Down the Mountain Katie Daly,” to close the evening.
Strings will return to The 1STBANK Center again tonight. For those who can’t make it in person, enjoy the tour opener from Feb. 2-4 on nugs.net. with a live stream and an on-demand 48-hour here.
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Billy Strings
The 1STBANK Center – Broomfield, Colo.
Feb. 2, 2023
Set I: Highway Hypnosis > Back Up and Push ([traditional] cover), Show Me the Door, Must Be Seven > Hide and Seek, I’ll Be Gone a Long Time, My Alice, Key Signator (Darol Anger cover), Taking Water > End of the Rainbow (Frank Wakefield cover) > Reuben’s Train ([traditional] cover)
Set II: Mackinac Rag (Billy solo) > Catch & Release (Billy solo), Groundhog (Doc Watson cover) (Billy solo), Brown’s Ferry Blues (The Doc Watson Family cover) (Billy solo), Guitar Peace (Billy solo) > Fearless (Pink Floyd cover) (Band re-enters) Red Daisy > On the Line > Away From the Mire, Long Forgotten Dream, Standing in the Need of Prayer (John P. Kee cover), Run Down (Jeff Austin cover), The Old Mountaineer ([traditional] cover), This Heart of Mine (New Grass Revival cover), Pyramid Country > Little Maggie([traditional] cover)
Enc.: Come Down the Mountain Katie Daly ([traditional] cover)
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