Greensky Bluegrass rang in 2020 with a three-show New Year’s Run at Milwaukee’s Riverside Theater. The Michigan-born band was supported by Horseshoes and Hand Grenades on each night of the stand which featured rarities, cover debuts, collaborations and more.
Greensky Bluegrass capped their run at the Riverside by giving a nod to Milwaukee in the form of a cover of the Laverne & Shirley theme. Tuxedo clad mandolinist Paul Hoffman and similarly attired guitarist Dave Bruzza led the debut cover of the song from the 1970s sitcom set in Milwaukee. “What You Need” then served as the run’s finale.
New Year’s Eve began with a first set containing GSBG favorites along with Cris Jacobs’ “Bone Digger” and the rarity from their 2011 album Handguns, “Beauty And Pain.” The second set opened with “Dustbowl Overtures.” They followed with “Run Or Die” surrounding their debut cover of Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell.” Rarely played John Hartford cover, “I’m Still Here,” came next and the set drew to a close with a fitting cover of J.J. Cale’s “After Midnight.”
“Courage for the Road” started the third set on New Year’s Eve and before finishing Greensky transitioned into Yonder Mountain String Band’s “Follow Me Down to the Riverside” – a song GSBG first covered on December 28, 2018, with the late YMSB-founding member Jeff Austin sitting-in. “Auld Lang Syne” rang in 2020 and transitioned back into “Follow Me Down To The Riverside” and then the completion of “Courage For The Road.” Set three also had scarcely played covers “Gimme Some Lovin’” and “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” and ended with the 2020 appropriate “Leap Year.”
Leading up to NYE, Greensky’s show on December 30 saw a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic,” which was added to their repertoire in September. Other highlights included “Just Listening,” bust outs of “The Other One” by the Grateful Dead and original “Roberta.” Horseshoes & Hand Grenades’ Adam Greuel sat-in during the encore on a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “No Expectations.”
Opening night of the Riverside run kicked off with Greensky Bluegrass sequencing together “Just to Lie” into “Don’t Lie” into “33443” into “Wings for Wheels” back into “Don’t Lie.” The first night’s first set also included a break out of “Ground Hog” and a closing cover of the Traveling Wilburys’ “Handle With Care.” Night one set two presented a cover of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Jesus On The Mainline” and a set-closing “Tarpology” wrapped around Paul Simon’s “Gumboots.” Check out video highlights from New Year’s Eve and full show audio and setlists from all three Greensky Bluegrass concerts at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee via PT GSBG below:
Laverne & Shirley Theme
Gimmie Some Lovin’
Audio Taped By Todd Moore
December 31
December 30
December 29
New Year’s Eve
Set One: Past My Prime, What’s Left of the Night> Hold On, The Radio Blues, Bone Digger, I’d Probably Kill You, Demons, Beauty and Pain, All Four
Set Two: Dustbowl Overtures, Run or Die > Run Like Hell [1] > Run or Die, I’m Still Here, Hit Parade of Love, Windshield, It’s Not Mine Anymore, Jaywalking > After Midnight
Set Three:: Courage for the Road > Follow Me Down to the Riverside > Auld Lang Syne > Follow Me Down to the Riverside > Courage for the Road, Take Cover, Gimme Some Lovin, That’s What Love Will Make You Do, A Letter to Seymour, Before Bring Out Your Dead > Bring Out Your Dead, Leap Year
Encore: Making Our Dreams Come True [1], What You Need
[1] first time played
December 30
Set One: White House Blues, Do It Alone, Living Over, Bottle Dry, Fixin To Ruin, Murder of Crows, When I Get My Hands on You, Broke Mountain Breakdown > Crosstown Traffic
Set Two: The Four > Just Listening, The Other One > Train Junkie, Roberta > In Control> All for Money, Old Barns, Worried About the Weather
Encore: No Expectations [1]
[1] with Adam Greuel
December 29
Set One: Just to Lie > Don’t Lie > 33443 > Wings for Wheels> Don’t Lie, Can’t Make Time, Into the Rafters, Ground Hog > Handle With Care
Set Two: 200 Miles from Montana, Jesus on the Mainline, Forget Everything > Kerosene, Do Harm, Burn Them, Room Without a Roof, Tarpology > Gumboots > Tarpology
Encore: Steam Powered Aeroplane
