Billy Strings Teases King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard During “Turmoil & Tinfoil” in Melbourne
Photo: Stevo Rood
On July 15, Billy Strings took the stage Down Under for the onset of his Summer Tour. Tuesday’s concert at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena represented the bluegrass golden boy’s first-ever appearance in Australia. The band’s arrival signaled the international prestige they had earned following last year’s European dates, which helped widen their fan base and introduce beloved originals and a wealth of classic tunes to a new region.
Before Strings emerged in concert, he met up with local jam connoisseurs King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. The psych-rock unit shared a clip on their Instagram story, featuring footage of Strings testing out a microtonal acoustic guitar, which garnered praise from members in real-time. As a nod to the moment and region, Strings twisted a feature off Gizz’s Flying Microtonal Banana collection into his own “Turmoil & Tinfoil,” during the concert’s second set with the original ensemble present in the audience.
Set one traversed a range of content beginning with originals: “Slow Train,” “Hide and Seek,” “Hellbender,” and “The Fire On My Tongue.” Without pause, the unit picked up Bob Dylan’s “Drifter’s Escape.” While the Greenwich Bard’s music has seemingly always been a part of Strings’ live show, its international delivery sparked a knowing layer of attribution after the pair shared the stage on Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour, performing “All Along the Watchtower” during a Spokane, Wash. stop.
The Doc Watson-arranged “St. James Hospital” emerged after Dylan’s John Wesley Harding pull. The group proceeded with “Escanaba,” before the heartstring-strumming single mic delivery of “Richard Petty,” “Love Me Darlin’, Just Tonight,” and “Uncle Pen.” Before turning in their first frame, the group fused “Home” with Pink Floyd’s “Fearless.” The latter half of the event began with the fourth ever “I’m One of Those,” an original which initially debuted on May 16, 2025, at the Hollywood Bowl.
The concert’s most talked-about moment came out of “Turmoil & Tinfoil,” an escape into local legends King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard’s “Rattlesnake,” an apex for the Melbourne audience and the band’s members who were seated in the crowd, and even live streamed via Instagram during in the event in support of their brother in jam.
The remainder of the concert consisted of a heavy offering of traditional songs and cover material, including The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Love or Confusion,” performed for the ninth time ever during last night’s gig, and a peppering of originals like “My Alice,” “Gild the Lily,” and “Pyramid Country,” which mingled with the Johnny Horton arranged, New Riders of the Purple Sage covered “Ole Slew Foot.”
Ultimately, the band’s encore consisted of the Carter Stanley-penned “Harbor of Love,” and The Osborne Brothers released “Big Spike Hammer.” Following last night’s tour opener in Melbourne, Billy Strings will take tonight off, resuming the Aussie tour leg on Thursday, July 17, in Sydney. Tickets remain on sale.
Billy Strings
Margaret Court Arena – Melbourne
July 15, 2025
Set I: Slow Train, Hide and Seek, Hellbender, The Fire On My Tongue > Drifter’s Escape, St. James Hospital, Escanaba, Richard Petty1, Love Me Darlin’ Just Tonight2, Uncle Pen2, Home, Fearless
Set II: I’m One Of Those, Turmoil & Tinfoil3, Love and Regret, John Deere Tractor, Dusty Miller, Dust In A Baggie > Love Or Confusion, My Alice, The Train That Carried My Girl From Town, Black Mountain Rag, Gild the Lily, Psycho > Pyramid Country > Ole Slew Foot
Enc.: Harbor of Love, Ole Slew Foot
Notes:
- Full band (minus Alex) around single mic
- Full band around single mic
- “Rattlesnake” (King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard) tease
Setlist via billybase.net
