Billy Strings opened his concert in Norfolk, Virginia on Saturday night with a fitting cover of Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land.” The show at Chartway Arena also saw the guitarist showcase a mashup of his songs “Dust In A Baggie” and “Love & Regret” renamed “Dust & Regret.”
Strings began Saturday’s concert with “Promised Land,” the song frequently covered by the Grateful Dead and whose lyrics begin, “I left my home in Norfolk, Virginia, California on my mind.” Later in the first set, Strings paired the lyrics of “Dust In A Baggie” with the music from “Love & Regret,” forming the aforementioned “Dust & Regret.” Also played in the first set were originals “Highway Hypnosis” and “This Old World,” as well as covers of “Ernest T. Grass” and “Little Maggie.”
Strings and his bandmates – mandolinist Jarrod Walker, banjoist Billy Failing and bassist Royal Masat – initiated the second set with a pairing of “Taking Water” into “Ice Bridges.” Later in the set came another location-specific cover in the form of Larry Sparks’ “Blue Virginia Blues.” The quartet worked through “Turmoil & Tinfoil” and “Watch It Fall” before digging into Flatt & Scruggs’ “Doin’ My Time” and J.J. Cale’s “Ride Me High.” The closer was “Thunder,” the song featuring Robert Hunter’s lyrics and music by Strings that debuted with Billy & The Kids. Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage” filled the evening’s encore slot.
Watch Billy Strings cover Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land” below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ67wsKLqgN/
Setlist (via BillyBase)
Set One: Promised Land [1], Hollow Heart, While I’m Waiting Here, Likes of Me, West Dakota Rose, Dust and Regret, Highway Hypnosis, This Old World, Ernest T. Grass > Little Maggie
Set Two: Taking Water > Ice Bridges, I’ll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers > Red Daisy, Blue Virginia Blues, Turmoil & Tinfoil, Watch it Fall, Doin’ My Time, Ride Me High [2] > Thunder
Encore: Brain Damage
Notes:
- [1] FTP with band
- [2] with Inspector Gadget tease
