Greensky Bluegrass and The Wood Brothers brought a joint tour to Wolf Trap Filene Center in Vienna, Virginia on Friday. The musicians gathered around a single mic to end last night’s concert with a two-song encore.
GSBG and The Wood Brothers are currently in the midst of an eight-show run that started on Thursday in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A tour with both bands was originally scheduled for the summer of 2020 but was canceled due to the pandemic before a new trek was announced earlier this year. Greensky will headline each show following a set from The Wood Brothers.
When Greensky returned to the Wolf Trap stage for last night’s encore, they were joined by The Wood Brothers. First, Oliver Wood and Paul Hoffman traded vocal duties on “Luckiest Man.” The song was originally recorded by The Wood Brothers for their 2006 debut full-length studio album, Ways Not To Lose. Greensky debuted their take on “Luckiest Man” in 2014 and have performed the tune 22 additional times since. Last night’s version was played without GSBG bassist Mike Devol.
Devol took over upright bass duties for a collaborative rendition of Greensky original “Who Is Frederico?” that closed the show. The Wood Brothers bassist Chris Wood played harmonica as all eight musicians shared centerstage where a single mic was set up. The high-energy “Who Is Frederico?” finale saw the players make use of their instruments for percussion elements towards the end of the song.
Watch the acoustic “Luckiest Man”/”Who Is Frederico?” encore below thanks to video shot by a fan:
The Wood Brothers kicked off the concert with an opening set before Greensky Bluegrass played a headlining set in a format that will continue throughout the tour. Greensky began their frame with staple “Past My Prime” and then busted out the Duran Duran cover “Hungry Like The Wolf” for the first time since September 21, 2018 — a span of 259 shows as per Phantasy Tour.
GSBG’s lone set continued with the beloved “Blood Sucking F(r)iends” and a version of dobroist Anders Beck‘s “Broke Mountain Breakdown” that flowed into “Worry For You.” Hoffman then led the jamgrass act through “In Control” ahead of the band’s first cover of Rufus Thomas’ “Walkin’ The Dog” of 2022. After “All For Money,” guitarist Dave Bruzza went solo on John Prine’s “Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness.” The song from the late singer-songwriter’s 1985 album German Afternoons was played only once prior at a GSBG show during the band’s audience-less livestream run at The Pageant in St. Louis back in 2020.
Fan favorite “The Four” kept the frame going along with “Courage For The Road” and “Bottle Dry.” Greensky Bluegrass then took on “How Mountain Girls Can Love” for its 2022 debut and ended the set by performing originals “Do It Alone” and “Living Over.”
The tour moves to Seaside Heights, New Jersey tonight.
Greensky Bluegrass Setlist (via PT GSBG)
Set: Past My Prime, Hungry Like the Wolf, Blood Sucking F(r)iends, Broke Mountain Breakdown > Worry for You, In Control, Walkin’ the Dog, All for Money, Speed of the Sound of Loneliness [1], The Four, Courage for the Road, Bottle Dry, How Mountain Girls Can Love, Do It Alone, Living Over
Encore: Luckiest Man [2], Who Is Frederico? [2]
- [1] – Dave Bruzza solo
- [2] – Single mic, w/ The Wood Brothers
