This past weekend, the Denver music community helped usher one of the best young players in the country to the next level. Back in September, when it was announced that Billy Strings would be playing two nights at The Ogden, the buzz was deafening but people were initially skeptical that he would sell out both shows quickly. Well, tickets went on sale and disappeared so fast that AEG added a third night and, guess what, those vanished as well. In mere minutes, Strings sold out three nights at the venerable Colfax theater. To put that in perspective, it took his big brothers on the scene, Greensky Bluegrass, several years to achieve a feat like that. Simply put, this guy is on a meteoric rise that I don’t see slowing anytime soon.
The lines were deep on Colfax as faithful Strings fans waited in the cold night air to snag coveted rail space in the relatively intimate Ogden, but no one was complaining. We made friends, talked music, and shared stories as the line slowing snaked into the building. The scene reminded me of my early jamband days following String Cheese Incident and, if I’m honest, I haven’t felt this good a vibe around a band since those days in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.
Once inside the Ogden I’m not sure it mattered where you were as Billy Strings and his band poured forth so much energy and love that it filtered effortlessly to the deepest corners of the room. From the opening notes of “Slow Train” on Friday night, through the last lingering harmonies of “Seven Bridges Road” on Saturday, Strings and his band played more than four hours of music that was exhilarating, poignant, and mesmerizing.
The band collaborated on extended jams that pushed well over the ten minute mark like the instrumentals “Ernest T. Grass” and “Home of the Red Fox” on Friday night and, on Saturday, banjo player Billy Failing’s “So Many Miles” and Strings’ own stunning compositions “Away From The Mire” and “Meet Me At The Creek” that served as bookends for a historic second set.
In between these monsters, the band showcased their impressive range as they segued from tight little Strings’ ditties like “Hollow Heart,” “On The Line,” and one of the standout tracks on his new album Home “Must Be Seven,” into covers that he has made his own. On Friday night he whipped the crowd into an absolute frenzy with a run that included JJ Cale’s “Ride Me High” and Blackfoot’s “Train Train” at the end of the second set, while on Saturday they jammed on The Monkees’ “Last Train To Clarksville” midway through set one before wrapping up the frame up with Jackson Browne’s “Running On Empty.” While these were all stellar crowd pleasers, I was most impressed when Strings’ sandwiched his own “Living Like An Animal” inside a powerful version of John Philips’ (via The Grateful Dead) “Me & My Uncle” on Friday and then when he nailed Jimmy Cliff’s “Sitting Here In Limbo” on Saturday. This cat has range!
While I have no doubt that Strings will be graduating to bigger rooms like The Mission and (hopefully) a headlining slot at Red Rocks in the next year, it has been a privilege to see him in some incredibly intimate places around the state. Make no mistake, Billy Strings is here to stay and he is transforming the world of Bluegrass in a way that very few would have predicted before he burst onto the scene. As a good friend of mine, who had never seen him before, said to me on Saturday night as we wound down after the show, “I’ve never seen a Bluegrass headbanger before.” He’s right. I hadn’t either before I caught my first Billy Strings show, but damn am I glad I have now!
Billy Strings – Friday, December 13th – Ogden Theatre
Set One: Slow Train, Ernest T. Grass > Ole Slew-Foot, I’ll Remember You, Love, in My Prayers, Watch It Fall, This Heart of Mine > Dealing Despair, White Dover, Me and My Uncle > Living Like an Animal > Me and My Uncle, On the Line > Train 45
Set Two: Home of the Red Fox, Must Be Seven, Run Down, Old Train, I Only Exist, Love Like Me, Tennessee Stud, Pretty Daughter, Pyramid Country > Ride Me High > Train, Train
Encore: Freedom
Billy Strings – Saturday, December 14th – Ogden Theatre
Set One: Taking Water, Hollow Heart, Tipper, While I’m Waiting Here, I’m Still Here > Last Train to Clarksville > So Many Miles, Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine, Enough to Leave, Dust in a Baggie, > Running, Running on Empty
Set Two: Away from the Mire, Long Forgotten Dream, Real Shit Kicker, Blue Eyed Darlin, Doin’ Things Right, Sitting in Limbo, Highway Hypnosis, China Doll, Meet Me at the Creek
Encore: Seven Bridges Road
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