Billy Strings caught the first “Slow Train” into the ExploreAsheville.com Arena on Saturday for a locomotive-powered show, his second of three this weekend in Asheville, NC.
The show opened up with the freight train of Larry Sparks‘ “Slow Train”, with perennial opener “Taking Water” arriving in the two slot. Billy’s visual team made good use of the massive LED screen behind the stage, which extended all the way up to the upper seats of the sold-out, 7,200-capacity room. Onscreen, the band displayed images reminiscent of its Away From The Shire 2022 Halloween run—the last time the band visited Asheville—which was prescient of things to come.
Breezing through “End of the Rainbow”, another ghost of Asheville Halloween past, Strings finally took his first proper guitar solo in a jam once again kicked off by fiddler Alex Hargreaves. The “new guy” was certainly the first star of Friday’s show, but Saturday belonged to mandolinist Jarrod Walker who consistently broke through in group improvisation throughout the night. The set rolled on fairly unremarkably through “My Alice”, “Bound to Ride”, “John Deere Tractor”, and “Long Forgotten Dream”. Where the tide began to turn, however, was in “The Fire On My Tongue”.
Billy Strings – “Slow Train” (Larry Sparks), “Taking Water” > “End Of The Rainbow” (Frank Wakefield) [Pro-Shot] – 2/17/24
Banjo plucker Billy Failing was responsible for initially launching the jam into deep space, picking experimental and unconventional rhythms, popping his banjo at times like a bag of microwave popcorn only for Billy Strings to pull it out at just the right moment so it didn’t burn. The entire band then got locked into a stop-start, syncopated jam that led Billy through a trusty tease of Jimi Hendrix‘s “Third Stone From The Sun”, ahead of a rambunctious cover of Bob Dylan‘s John Wesley Harding jewel “Drifter’s Escape”. There is nothing like hearing an arena come alive at the starting gun of “Dust in a Baggie”, and that’s exactly how Billy and company closed their first set.
The second set is really where the references to Halloweens past came into view, as the band retook the stage to “Concerning Hobbits” from Lord of the Rings. Rather than going into the shire, Strings bid a long overdue “Hello City Limits”. Once the band hit the extended instrumetnal opening of “Heartbeat of America” all bets were off. Billy Strings got tasty shred nasty as the rainbow stage lights made for a pretty blissful experience. Following a straightforward “Along the Road”, the second train song of the evening (and third of the weekend) arrived with “Streamline Cannonball”.
Billy tried some fancy instrumental picking to start the next song but tripped himself up and even admitted “F–k, I started the wrong song,” just one slice of a banter-heavy show. The guitarist eventually found his way to “Enough To Leave” for one last bring-down before the remainder of the show went full speed ahead. The proceeding “Lumpy, Beanpole, & Dirt” arrived by way of a sensual bass solo from Royal Masat, pure sex incarnate, which developed into a surprisingly deep jam where Strings went toe-to-toe with each of his bandmates. Though it is Strings’ name on the marquee and the t-shirts, the band leader is always diligent in sharing the spotlight with his fellow world-class players—with Jarrod Walker (sporting a North Carolina bass shirt) standing out in particular in the fiery round of improv.
More Lord of the Rings teases followed as “The Fellowship” took a detour through Mordor to the heavy-hitting instrumental “Bronzeback”. After the cathartic “Must Be Seven”, Strings and his cohorts ventured down the dark road of jamming with Leon Payne‘s “Psycho”. As the stage was cloaked in red light, the band entered deep, dark, and brooding territory, only to burst through on the other side into “Pyramid Country”. There was no stopping, this was pyramid country, as the hard-hitting composed section opened up into deep space. Strings embraced the power of playing few notes—with plenty of effects of course—before the rowdy “Ole Slewfoot” in the heart of black bear country closed out the set. Finally, Billy and his boys closed out the show with the third train song of the evening, “Ridin’ That Midnight Train”, to roll right through the finish line—surprisingly at 10:55 p.m., compared to the 11:35 p.m. wrap-up time of Friday night.
Billy Strings returns to the ExploreAsheville.com Arena tonight, February 18th, to polish off his three-night run with one more sold-out show.
Setlist: Billy Strings | ExploreAsheville.com Arena | Asheville, NC | 2/17/24
Set One: Slow Train, Taking Water > End Of The Rainbow, My Alice, Bound To Ride, John Deere Tractor, Long Forgotten Dream, The Fire On My Tongue [1], Drifter’s Escape, Dust In A Baggie
Set Two: Hello, City Limits [2], Heartbeat Of America, Along The Road, Streamline Cannonball, Enough To Leave, Lumpy, Beanpole, & Dirt, Bronzeback [3], Must Be Seven > Psycho > Pyramid Country > Ole Slewfoot
Encore: Ridin’ That Midnight Train [4]
[1] “Third Stone From The Sun” (Jimi Hendrix) tease
[2] “Concerning Hobbits” (Howard Shore) intro
[3] “The Fellowship” (Howard Shore) intro
[4] “Mountain Folks” (Ralph Stanley) intro
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