Greensky Bluegrass kicked off a three-night run at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado on Friday. The quintet welcomed Lukas Nelson and also went it alone to debut a Bruce Hornsby cover.
Greensky Bluegrass — mandolinist Paul Hoffman, guitarist Dave Bruzza, banjoist Michael Bont, bassist Mike Devol and dobro player Anders Beck — got things underway with “In Control.” After the If Sorrows Swim tune, Hoffman marveled at the wall of humanity that is the Red Rocks crowd, asking lighting designer Andrew Lincoln to “light em’ up. It’s nice to see you,” Paul said. Bruzza then led the band through his “Letter To Seymour,” which boasted a new intro laced with dobro from Beck. “Seymour” led into “Roberta,” an instrumental from Colorado’s own Benny “Burle” Galloway. Greensky then welcomed photographer Dylan Langille — who celebrated his birthday last night — on woodblock for “Fixin’ To Ruin.” A song with a title that could easily describe Red Rocks, “Room Without A Roof,” followed ahead of “Run Or Die.”
GSBG then welcomed Lukas Nelson whose band Promise Of The Real opened up the evening. Lukas led the band through “Turn Of The News (Build A Garden),” the title track to POTR’s 2019 album. Nelson, playing a Fender Telecaster, and Beck would trade licks before Hoffman sang harmonies with Lukas to bring the song home. The guest spots kept coming as Greensky welcomed frequent collaborator and percussionist Guido Batista on vibraslap for “What You Need” before going it alone on “Demons.” GSBG then unveiled a cover of Bruce Hornsby’s “Great Divide,” appearing on the renowned keyboardist’s Spirit Trail album in 1998, to close out the set. The song contained elements of the Grateful Dead’s “Samson & Delilah” and also featured a “Roberta” call back.
The second set got going with the title track to Greensky’s latest studio album, 2019’s All For Money, followed by “Cold Feet.” “Jaywalking” then led into a cover of Cris Jacob’s “Bone Digger,” which saw the band teasing and quoting Danny Barnes’ “Death Trip,” a song covered by the late great Jeff Austin and Yonder Mountain String Band. The quintet then reeled off “Reverend,” “Forget Everything,” “All 4” and “Just Listening” ahead of a set closer “Tarpology” which encompassed the Bruce Springsteen-penned, Band covered “Atlantic City.” Greensky would return to encore with the relatively new tune, “Grow Together.”
Watch audience-shot video of Lukas Nelson sit-in along with pro-shot video of the first set openers below:
Setlist (via Camp Greensky)
Set One: In Control, A Letter to Seymour (1) > Roberta, Fixin’ to Ruin (2), Room Without a Roof, Run or Die, Turn Off the News (3), What You Need (4) > Demons, Great Divide(5)(6)(7)
Set Two: All for Money, Cold Feet, Jaywalking > Bone Digger (8), Reverend, Forget Everything, All 4, Just Listening, Tarpology > Atlantic City > Tarpology
Encore: Grow Together
Notes:
- (1) – New intro
- (2) – w/ Dylan Langille (woodblock/bday celebration)
- (3) – w/ Lukas Nelson
- (4) – w/ Guido Batista (vibraslap)
- (5) – FTP
- (6) – Samson and Delilah tease
- (7) – Roberta tease
- (8) – Death Trip tease and quotes
Greensky Bluegrass continues their Red Rocks run tonight.
Correction: This article mistakenly referred to Greensky’s cover of “Great Divide” by Bruce Hornsby as The Band’s “Across The Great Divide.” The text has been updated to reflect the correct original artist.
