“Alright for the next two-and-a-half to three hours this is a completely bullshit-free zone. Let’s get down to business,” Sturgill Simpson said to start his concert on Sunday in Montana. The formerly reclusive singer-songwriter is back in a big way with a beautiful new album Passage du Desir, a new tour (Why Not?), and a new name: Johnny Blue Skies.
After spending nearly three years on the bench due to a tour-ending vocal cord injury, Simpson is once again commanding stages with his powerhouse original backing band featuring Laur Joamets (guitar), Miles Miller (drums), and Kevin Black (bass), plus former Midland keyboardist Robbie Crowell. Simpson stayed true to his show-opening word as the band played for nearly three uninterrupted hours, powering through 32 songs in the single-set, encore-less performance. His band’s prowess was particularly potent on an extended 14-minute amble through “Call to Arms”.
Out in Big Sky Country at the bucolic KettleHouse Amphitheater in Bonner, Johnny Blue Skies paid justifiable attention to his dreamy new album, playing six of the disc’s eight tracks. Elsewhere, he touched on his 2021 album The Ballad of Dood & Juanita—allegedly the fifth and final album to be released under the name Sturgill Simpson—for his ninth-ever performance of “Dood”. The singer-songwriter didn’t have much chance to tour behind his concept album as a vocal injury cut the tour short after only a handful of shows. Simpson’s live setlists continue to evolve and expand as the Why Not? Tour rolls on, with new covers like “Purple Rain” joining the songbook and becoming evening regulars. The Prince cover appeared on Sunday for the sixth consecutive show, following its debut on September 14th in L.A.
Fans following along at home (or shut out of his many sold-out performances) no longer have to rely on shaky cell phone videos as Sturgill Simpson has joined nugs.net. The concert streaming platform has full-show, soundboard-quality audio of five concerts from the tour’s first week—excluding the Hollywood Bowl show and a festival appearance at Outside Lands. A press release notes that fans can expect audio within 12 hours of each show.
“We first teamed up with Sturgill for a livestream event during the pandemic, a benefit concert streamed live to fans worldwide from an empty Ryman Auditorium. Fast forward four years, and we’re elated to have him back on nugs.net in this capacity, this is a special opportunity for fans,” nugs.net founder and CEO Brad Serling said. “This tour is a celebration of his return, and through nugs, we’re proud to be able to provide fans a piece of that live experience from home.”
Check out a gallery of images from Sturgill Simpson in Montana courtesy of photographer Matthew Rea along with nugs audio. Not a nugs subscriber yet? Sign up for a seven-day free trial here. [Editor’s Note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your nugs subscription or purchasing a download via the links on this page helps support our coverage of the world of live music. Thank you for reading!]
Simpson’s Why Not? Tour continues tonight, September 24th, in Minnesota as it moves east to west through November. Find tickets and tour dates here.
Sturgill Simpson — KettleHouse Amphitheater — Bonner, MT — 9/22/24 — nugs.net
Setlist: Sturgill Simpson | KettleHouse Amphitheater | Bonner, MT | 9/22/24
Set: Turtles All the Way Down, Living the Dream, If the Sun Never Rises Again, Long White Line (Moore & Napier), I’d Have to Be Crazy (Steven Fromholz), Right Kind of Dream, All Around You, Call to Arms, Juanita, Fastest Horse in Town, You Don’t Miss Your Water (William Bell), Jupiter’s Faerie, Scooter Blues, Life of Sin > One for the Road, Purple Rain (Prince), I Don’t Mind, All Said and Done, Mint Tea, Sing Along, Voices > Midnight Rider (Allman Brothers Band), Red Red Wine (Neil Diamond), Railroad of Sin, The Promise (When in Rome), A Whiter Shade of Pale (Procol Harum), Brace for Impact (Live a Little), A Good Look > Just Let Go, Welcome to Earth (Pollywog), It Ain’t All Flowers, Best Clockmaker on Mars
The post Sturgill Simpson Soaks Up The Big Blue Skies In Montana As ‘Why Not? Tour’ Joins nugs [Photos/Audio] appeared first on L4LM.
