Greensky Bluegrass continued their tour on Friday night at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. The jamgrass act got in the collaborative spirit as they were joined by Tom Hamilton and Holly Bowling, whose band Ghost Light opened the night.
Towards the back half of the first set, Hamilton and Bowling emerged to lend a hand on a trio of tunes. Up first for the augmented ensemble was a take on Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 hit “Dancing In The Dark.” Next, the septet dug in on a take on “I’d Probably Kill You” that saw them change the lyrics to reference Greensky’s longtime friend Billy Strings. Hamilton and Bowling then helped the string band close out their first set with a cover of The Dillards’ “Reuben’s Train.”
The Michigan-based band would go guestless for their second frame of the night. The pairing of John Hartford’s “Steam Powered Aeroplane” with “Train Junkie” came at the midway point of the set. While three pairs of segued songs helped close out the stanza as Greensky delivered “Blood Sucking F(r)iends” > “Old Barns,” “Before Bring Your Dead” > “Bring Out Your Dead” and “The Four” > “Kerosene.” The five-piece nodded to their surroundings during their encore as they busted out their take on Bob Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You.” It was the first time the tune from the Minnesota native’s 1969 album Nashville Skyline had been played since May of last year.
Setlist (via Camp Greensky)
Set I: Roberta, Grow Bananas, A Letter to Seymour, Last Winter in Copper Country, 200 Miles From Montana, While Waiting, Dancing in the Dark (1), I’d Probably Kill You (1)(2), Rueben’s Train(1)
Set II: What’s Left of the Night (3) > Miss September, Steam Powered Aeroplane > Train Junkie, Better Off, Blood Sucking F(r)iends > Old Barns (4), Before Bring Your Dead > Bring Out Your Dead, The Four > Kerosene
Encore: Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You
(1) – w/ Tom Hamilton & Holly Bowling, (2) – Lyric change “pretty sure Billy Strings was in there”, (3) – Tarpology tease, (4)- New Barns arrangement
