After kicking off his spring tour in Southaven, MS on Thursday, Billy Strings and his bluegrass band arrived in Mobile, AL on Friday for the first of two nights at Mobile Civic Center.
After greeting the crowd with a humble, “Hello there,” Strings, Billy Failing, Royal Masat, Jarrod Walker, and Alex Hargreaves opened set one with an especially twangy “Slow Train”. A few short but fiery solos from Walker, Hargreaves, and Strings signified the start of a scorching first set. Next came a cover of Frank Wakefield‘s “End of the Rainbow”, during which each member of the band took time to stretch out a bit with the exclusion of Masat. Strings cranked up the distortion at the end of the jam, adding an electric guitar sound to the band’s otherwise acoustic bluegrass instrumentation.
Billy Strings – “Slow Train”, “End of the Rainbow” (Frank Wakefield) – 4/14/23
“End of the Rainbow” eventually gave way to “Thirst Mutilator”, which in turn led into “Everything’s the Same”. A cover of The Delmore Borthers‘ “Freight Train Boogie” followed ahead of “This Old World” and a seamless pairing of “Love and Regret”, off Strings’ Grammy-winning album Home, and “Run Down” by the late Jeff Austin. The band capped the set with one more cover, Danny Barnes‘ “Pretty Daughter”, and two tracks off 2021’s Renewel, “Show Me the Door” and “Know It All”.
The band kept the energy high through set two, which opened with “Away From the Mire” and “Long Forgotten Dream”, both off 2019’s Home. Next came “John Deere Tractor” by Larry Sparks and “Tipper” by “late, great” bluegrass forefather Tony Rice. Strings then introduced “My Alice” by saying, “It’s like an Edgar Allen Poe song or something.” The remainder of the set consisted mostly of covers with extended jams added, including “Home of the Red Fox” (Bill Emerson), “Ole Slewfoot” (Johnny Horton), “West Dakota Rose” (Chris Henry), “Psycho” (Eddie Noack), “Thunder” (with words by Robert Hunter and music by Billy), and “Y’all Come” (Arlie Duff), plus the title track from Home.
Click below to check out fan-shot videos from Billy Strings at Mobile Civic Center. Strings returns to the venue tonight, Saturday, April 15th. The show is available to livestream for free for nug.net subscribers. Click here for more details on Strings’ spring tour, and visit his website for ticketing details.
Billy Strings – Mobile Civic Center – Mobile, AL – 4/14/23 – Set 1 (Partial)
[Video: RNCampbell]
Setlist: Billy Strings | Mobile Civic Center | Mobile, AL | 4/14/23
Set 1: Slow Train, End of the Rainbow (Frank Wakefield) > Thirst Mutilator > Everything’s the Same, Freight Train Boogie (The Delmore Brothers), This Old World, Love and Regret -> Run Down (Jeff Austin) > Pretty Daughter (Danny Barnes), Show Me the Door, Know It All
Set 2: Away From the Mire, Long Forgotten Dream, John Deere Tractor (Larry Sparks), Tipper (Tony Rice), My Alice, Home of the Red Fox (Bill Emerson) > Ole Slewfoot (Johnny Horton), Home, West Dakota Rose (Chris Henry), Psycho (Eddie Noack) > Thunder (Robert Hunter), Y’all Come (Arlie Duff)
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