Billy Strings Enters the Crowd During First Set Closer in Albany
Photo: Bryan Lasky
After turning in a double feature at the PPG Paint Arena in Pittsburgh over the weekend, Billy Strings trotted to the Finger Lakes region of New York state, performing at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The performance featured the arrival of a setlist rarity, a take on John Hartford’s “Windows,” revived just for the occasion. From a rescued classic, the four-piece put on another gig last night, Nov. 12, at the MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y., where they stuck to customary delivery of originals and well-respected covers.
During Strings Pittsburgh’s follow-up, and subsequent Tuesday arrival on the Blue Cross Arena stage, he and his band, Billy Failing, Alex Hargreaves, Royal Masat, and Jarrod Walker rustled up an original, with the fast pickin’ “Wargasm,” to open the show. The ensemble followed up with a nod to Walker’s brother, Cory, by way of Chris Henry and the Hardcore Grass’ “West Dakota Rose,” a band he was once a part of. Returning to originals, the band performed “In the Morning Light” prior to the night’s bust out.
After turning in their Renewal feature, Strings reintroduced the audience to a setlist oddity, Hartford’s “Windows.” This group first covered the track on Nov. 6, 2023, and has returned to it each year since, demonstrating the bandleader’s tendency to pull in specifics with reference to his heroes and their musical influence. The previously touched on song fused with “Thunder,” the gifted Robert Hunter lyrics he received from the Grateful Dead’s Bill Kreutzmann.
A sequence of originals trailed the aforementioned track and co-writes, “California Sober,” “My Alice,” “Fire On My Tongue,” and the expected “Know It All,” before the banjo back and forth was elicited on “Dos Banjos.” From there, Strings used the remainder of the first set for solo deliveries of traditional “Give The Fiddler a Dram,” the Doc Watson-associated “Whistling Rufus,” “Ragtime Annie,” and his own “Catch and Release.”
The second set wheeled in a similar arrangement of covers and originals with references to flora and fauna, as well as train travel, before mustering up a unifying start to the night’s encore on “We Shall All Be Reunited,” and bringing it to a formal close after “Roll On Buddy, Roll On.”
From the apple orchard-dotted region of New York state, Strings and his band bused it to Albany’s MVP Arena last night, Wednesday, Nov. 12. Whereas the group tends to close a set in the traditional bluegrass arrangement, gathered around a single microphone, they did the opposite last night, starting the concert in that form on “Richard Petty,” and “Happy Hollow,” except for the fiddler.
The group separated the start of the show by returning to form on a handful of material, before Strings took time for himself, providing a solo delivery of the old-timey traditional “Matty Groves,” and followed on the banjo during “Doc” Boggs’ “Country Blues.” With the band back on stage, the group performed “Sally Goodin” and “Secrets,” before “Meet Me at the Creek” propelled the bandleader to enter the crowd while continuing to play.
Set two lent itself to the band’s typical delivery of material, including an exceptional “Stratosphere Blues/ I Believe in You,” which found Strings on a Martin Grand J-28E, Masat pulsing a Nord Stage 3 88-Key keyboard, and Failing playing the Masterton ML-1: Missing Link Béla Fleck Baritone banjo. For the final song played during their time in Albany, the group gathered around a single mic once more, honoring bluegrass’ musical practice for their own “Freedom.”
After time in the Empire State, Strings and his band will take their talents to Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., for two sold-out concerts on Nov. 14 and 15.
Billy Strings
Blue Cross Arena – Rochester, N.Y.
Nov. 11, 2025
Set I: Wargasm West Dakota Rose In The Morning Light Windows1 Thunder California Sober My Alice The Fire On My Tongue Know It All Dos Banjos2 Give The Fiddler A Dram3 Whistling Rufus3 Ragtime Annie3 Catch and Release3
Set II: Home On The Line Train 45 Alberta Gone A Long Time Heartbeat Of America Northern White Clouds Gild the Lily Away From The Mire Living Like An Animal The Cuckoo Seven Weeks in County
Enc.: We Shall All Be Reunited Roll On Buddy, Roll On
Notes:
- Last Time Played 2024-07-27 | 108 show gap
- Dos Billys (Billy Strings on clawhammer banjo and Billy Failing on banjo)
- Billy Strings solo
Billy Strings
MVP Arena – Albany
Nov. 12, 2025
Set I: Richard Petty1 Happy Hollow2 Malfunction Junction Airmail Special While I’m Waiting Here Enough To Leave In the Clear Matty Groves3 Country Blues4 Sally Goodin Secrets Meet Me At The Creek5
Set II: Guitar Peace Fearless Turmoil & Tinfoil Stratosphere Blues / I Believe in You6 All Of Tomorrow Bronzeback Hello, City Limits Fire Line Thirst Mutilator Cabin Song 10,000 Miles From A Friend The Beginning of the End
Enc.: Freedom2
Notes:
- Full band (minus Alex) around single mic
- Full band around single mic
- Billy Strings solo
- Billy Strings solo on clawhammer banjo
- Billy Strings left the stage and entered the crowd continuing to play
- Billy Strings on a Martin Grand J-28E, Royal Masat on a Nord Stage 3 88-Key Keyboard & Billy Failing on Masterton ML-1: Missing Link Béla Fleck Baritone Banjo
All setlists and notes via billybase.net.
