Billy Strings returned to Baltimore, MD’s Bank Arena last night for his annual Halloween show. In recent years, the guitar master has used the holiday to stage an elaborate, thematic musical presentation and this year he celebrated He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the beloved cartoon that originally aired for two seasons in 1983 and 1984. Strings dressed as the titular character while his friend and onetime roommate Molly Tuttle and mandolin wiz Sierra Hull played the event’s main female protagonists. In addition to his core band members, Strings expanded his band throughout the night to include Leftover Salmon’s Alwyn Robinson on drums, Chris Sterr on guitar and Jimmy Olsen on keyboard. The Michigan-bred musician’s bassist Royal Masat and mandolin player Jarrod Walker also switched to electric throughout the night, with Strings’ various guests cycling onstage throughout the program. After the concert, Strings also offered a surprise appearance with Leftover Salmon and indicated that he would pause his Halloween extravaganzas after next year so he could trick-or-treat with his young son.
Setting the stage for the night, the evening began with a series of vintage 1980s commercials projected on the screen and String emerged already dressed as He-Man—muscular suit, blonde bangs and all. The backdrop for the evening was the He-Man universe’s iconic Castle Grayskull and the music was enhanced with on-screen animation, lasers, pyro and other visual flair. At the top of the show, the expanded group busted into the He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe Theme story and then debuted two originals based on the Masters Of The Universe characters that Strings composed to weave the night’s story together, “Prince Adam” and “Teela’s Quest,” with Tuttle appearing on the latter selection.
From there, Strings, his combo and Tuttle arranged an eclectic section of material that connected to the night’s theme, offering a wink to the 4 Non Blondes/He-Man Fabulous Secret Powers internet meme with a take on that band’s “What’s Up?” The players then explored the He-Man story through a mix of creative covers that worked with the visuals, like Pink Floyd’s “Fearless,” Shuki Levy & Haim Saban’s “Portal To Earth” and Snap!’s “The Power,” which found Strings behind the mic rapping. (Both “What’s Up?” and “The Power” are also featured in this year’s Masters Of The Universe movie.) Next, Hull took the stage to help Strings debut Diana Ross’ “Muscles” and remained for Béla Fleck’s “Tentacle Dragon (Revenge of the),” “Doin’ Things Right” and Bad Livers’ “Ghost Train.”
After set break, Strings jumped back into the action with another set full of unexpected, cross-genre material. The unique segment commenced with Slayer’s “Skeletons of Society,” the first time the vocal metal fan covered the song,” and then progressed to include “Leaders,” a take on The String Cheese Incident’s “Black Clouds” that dipped into Shuki Levy & Haim Saban’ ‘Orko’s Theme” in the middle, the debut of Dio’s “Rainbow in the Dark” and a version of Frank Wakefield’s “End of the Rainbow” that also featured Hull. Soon after, String debuted his spin on Yes’ “South Side of the Sky,” Black Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe” and Sheryl Crow’s “Strong Enough,” with Tuttle appearing on the later tune. The energetic set then climaxed with a live debut of Molly Hatchet’s “Flirtin’ With Disaster,” Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” and a Tuttle-enhanced take on Foo Fighters’ “My Hero.” Both Tuttle and Hull then helped the core band close the night with the “He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe Theme,” before Strings capped things off with the He-Man catch phrase “I have the power.”
However, that was not the end of the evening’s festivities. Following the show, Strings, Hull and Tuttle all made their way over to the nearby Nevermore Hall to join Leftover Salmon during their show. The musicians made the most of the Daylight savings time change by performing for an extra hour, with Vince Herman dressed as Santa Claus.
The concert wrapped up a busy weekend for Strings, who staged a show at the large-scale Maryland arena on Friday as. Robinson, Sterr, Olsen, Hull and Tuttle all appeared at various points, and the guitarist teased things to come by playing a bit of “Orko’s Theme” during “Turmoil & Tinfoil.” He also revived a few numbers during the night: “Hey Joe,” which had not been played since November 1, 2024, “Sitting Here in Limbo,” which had been on the shelf since October 10, 2023, and “It Hurts Me Too,” which he had not pulled out since November 13, 2019.
At the end of the weekend, Strings took to Instagram and noted that next year may be his last Halloween show for a bit so that he can spend the holiday with his young son.
Thanks for coming out to the Halloween shows! I just fell in love with Masters of the universe a few months ago and started binging a bunch of the old cartoons. It’s so damn good! I had no idea what we were gonna do for Halloween this year but then I just came across it after never really knowing what it was about.
I immediately went down the rabbit hole and started arranging some of the musical themes for guitars and I wrote a couple songs (prince adam and Teela’s quest) for the show. I thought of some of my old musician friends from traverse city who I haven’t seen in a long time and invited them. Chris Sterr and Jimmy Olson absolutely killed it! They put in the work and I’m so grateful. It was awesome to jam with them again. Such amazing players.
And I can’t say enough about how great it was to play with Molly and Sierra. I’m so stoked they made it too! And the fellers in my band worked their tails off on all the material. Them guys are the absolute best! Alwyn Robinson is the best drummer in the damn world. He beasted through our gig then went straight to his gig with salmon. It was just an amazing time!
I love Halloween! I always have..although it’s kind of tough these days being my mom’s birthday and all. She would have been 66. It’s bitter sweet because I know she would have loved it, and even though I was having a blast the last few days with all this music and great friends.. in the back of my mind I’m always thinking of her and missing her. She would have loved the show!!
Anyhow, I’m thinking next year might be the last one of these for a while cuz my son is gonna get bigger and I’m gonna want to spend Halloween with him so we can trick or treat. We gotta do it big next year!! I’ll get planning now.Much love
Up next, Strings will join Trey Anastasio and his Trey Anastasio Band at Worcester, MA’s DCU Center on November 20 and 21. The shows will benefit Divided Sky Foundation.
