“STURGILL SIMPSON ::: Grandoozy 2018” by Julio Enriquez is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

We’re only a week in, and Sturgill Simpson’s return to the road with the Who the Fuck is Johnny Blue Skies? Tour has already been a wild ride. After announcing his intention to bring the band to smaller venues, rather than his typical packed arenas, and busting out “You Can Have the Crown” for the first time in a decade at a surprise show on Monday, Simpson kept rolling with another massive performance at Birmingham, Ala.’s Legacy Arena last night, April 10.

Sturgill’s latest set brought on another deep dive into his catalog, turning up hits from Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, Sound & Fury and The Ballad of Dood and Juanita, plus six of his Johnny Blue Skies entries from 2024, among other classic cuts.

Along the way, the artist scattered out 13 covers, with his ensemble putting their progressive-country spin on Moore & Napier’s “Pinball Blues” and “Long White Line,” When in Rome’s “The Promise,” Little Feat’s “Spanish Moon,” Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally,” Led Zeppelin’s “Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman),” Eddie Murphy’s “Party All the Time,” William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water” and Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”

The highlight of the performance was a long-awaited bust-out of Nirvana’s “In Bloom.” Simpson covered the essential Nevermind standout for his Grammy-winning 2016 album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth and regularly took it to the stage while touring that project, but it slipped out of his regular rotation shortly afterward. Thursday’s treatment was his first since November 19, 2016.

Simpson will return to the stage tonight for a show at Southaven, Miss.’s Landers Center, for tickets and more information, visit sturgillsimpson.com/#tour.

Sturgill Simpson

Legacy Arena – Birmingham, Ala.

4/10/25

Set: The Storm, Mint Tea, Brace for Impact (Live a Little), Pinball Blues, Long White Line, Sitting Here Without You, The Promise, Time After All, Right Kind of Dream, In Bloom, If the Sun Never Rises Again, Spanish Moon, Scooter Blues, Welcome to Earth (Pollywog), Best Clockmaker on Mars / Bulls on Parade, I Don’t Mind, All Said and Done, You Can Have the Crown, A Good Look, Lay Down Sally, Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman), Turtles All the Way Down, Life of Sin, One for the Road, Jupiter’s Faerie, Living the Dream, It Ain’t All Flowers, Party All the Time, Railroad of Sin, You Don’t Miss Your Water, A Whiter Shade of Pale, Fastest Horse in Town