Billy Strings Returns to The Shire, Brings Hobbiton to Spark Arena in Auckland
Photo: Emily Butler
Billy Strings arrived at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, for his fourth and final show in the Oceania region on Tuesday night. The performance followed the band’s visit to J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world, where they explored The Hobbiton Movie Set, the location used for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the inspiration behind the group’s 2022 Halloween performance in Asheville, N.C., dubbed “Away from the Shire.” During the concert that ensued, the group worked through two sets of music that evoked themes of existential pondering and nostalgia, classic motifs of the bluegrass catalog that also apply to Frodo Baggins’ own range of feeling.
The concert opened with a cover of “Likes of Me,” and the band’s rendition bore close association with Tony Rice’s 1984 adaptation of the Jerry Reed original. Without pause, notes of “Pyramid Country” emerged, but the crowd was robbed of a full delivery. What arrived was a complete run through of the Home feature, “Must Be Seven,” which evolved into “Secrets.” Pairings were heavily embraced during set one, and included “Doin’ Things Right” into The Beatles’ “I’ll Cry Instead.” The latter saw Royal Masat leading lines before tossing it back to Strings on “Everything’s The Same” and “Nothing’s Working.”
Next, Strings took the imagery of the American Midwest and described it using Chris Henry’s “West Dakota Rose” lyrics. Set one continued with a well-received “Stratosphere Blues / I Believe in You,” with Masat on a Nord Stage 3 88-Key Keyboard and Failing picking up the Masterton ML-1: Missing Link Béla Fleck Baritone Banjo. John Hartford’s “I’m Still Here” knocked the Failing penned and sung, “So Many Miles,” and resolved into set one’s finale, a return to Turmoil & Tinfoil on “Dealing Despair.”
“Hollow Heart” opened the latter half of the concert, and was followed by the evening’s first bust out, a cover of Doc Watson’s “Nothing To It,” performed for the first time since March 2, 2023, effectively ending a 194-show gap. Keeping with odes to greats, the band picked up the Watson-released “Nights in White Satin,” before a return to originals on “Highway Hypnosis.” Solo on clawhammer banjo, the bandleader went with another Watson-associated number, this time, “Georgia Buck.” The latter set up Strings and Failing for “Dos Banjos,” before a hair-raising rendition of “Richard Petty.”
Like their approach during the previously mentioned song, the band gathered around a single mic for Bobby Davidson’s “If Your Hair Is Too Long There’s Sin In Your Heart.” They resumed their original positions for the arrival of “The Shire,” by Howard Shore, the recognizable and instantly transporting instrumentals composed for LOTR, and placed as a tease ahead of “Old Home Place,” a song the fictitious Baggins would have felt proud of.
Ultimately, the band dusted off the Me/ And/ Dad feature, “Stone Walls & Steel Bars,” followed by the title track off Strings’ 2017 studio release, Turmoil & Tinfoil, and Jimmy Martin’s “Tennessee.” For the night’s encore, they played through “The Beginning of the End” and traditional “Train 45” to cap their time in New Zealand.
Following their international excursion, the band will take time off the road before they participate in Dead & Company’s Golden Gate Park celebration on August 1.
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Billy Strings
Spark Arena – Auckland, New Zealand
July 22, 2025
Set I: Likes Of Me, Must Be Seven, Secrets, Doin’ Things Right, I’ll Cry Instead, Everything’s The Same, Nothing’s Working, West Dakota Rose, Stratosphere Blues / I Believe in You, I’m Still Here, So Many Miles, Dealing Despair
Set II: Hollow Heart, Nothing To It, Nights In White Satin, Highway Hypnosis, Georgia Buck, Dos Banjos, Richard Petty, If Your Hair Is Too Long There’s Sin In Your Heart, Old Home Place, Stone Walls & Steel Bars, Turmoil & Tinfoil, Tennessee
Enc.: The Beginning of the End, Train 45
Setlist notes via billybase.net:
- “Pyramid Country” fake-out intro
- Royal Masat on lead vocals
- Royal Masat on a Nord Stage 3 88-Key Keyboard & Billy Failing on Masterton ML-1: Missing Link Béla Fleck Baritone Banjo
- Billy Failing on lead vocals
- Last Time Played 2023-03-03 | 194 show gap
- Billy Strings solo on clawhammer banjo
- Dos Billys (Billy Strings on clawhammer banjo and Billy Failing on banjo)
- Full Band (minus Alex) around single mic
- Full band around single mic
- “The Shire” (Howard Shore) intro
- Last Time Played 2024-05-25 | 81 show gap
