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Our final expertise with Billy Strings earlier this yr was so overwhelmingly optimistic that it appeared pretty apparent that we might be again. Luckily, the chance got here earlier than later. Because of a beneficiant follower on twitter, we had been capable of safe a ticket to this very sold-out present that includes Billy Strings enjoying on the South Avenue Seaport rooftop this previous Wednesday.
Whereas the thrill after this occasion was the looks of Phish’s Trey Anastasio for the final half of the second set, my private expertise was extra targeted on the continuous progress of Billy Strings as a performer. We now have at all times been entranced by the sheer virtuosity of Strings’ guitar enjoying and the wizardry of the band as a complete, and we had been capable of verify these expectations at the Cap in February. However this efficiency at Pier 17 raised the bar even increased. Joined by fiddler extraordinaire Alex Hargreaves (who later within the tour apparently agreed to change into a everlasting band member), the quintet carried out a flawless first set of Strings materials and selection covers.
With the backdrop of the NYC skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge, the juxtaposition of town heart with bluegrass music appeared to inspire each the band and the tune selections. The quilt of John Hartford’s 1976 basic “In Tall Buildings” was most poignant, though a number of numbers drew upon the agricultural/city dichotomy for inspiration. When the set closed with Strings’ obvious hard-life autobiographical and compositionally sensible “Turmoil & Tinfoil” this evening had already delivered precisely what we had come to see. However there was clearly extra to come back.
The band began the second set with Hargreaves shining all through an instrumental run by way of the normal “Sally Goodin”. In the end the set advanced into the present’s spotlight – a livid almost 20-minute “Meet Me on the Creek”, that managed to stay very important and driving for its whole improvisational five-member instrumental phase. As had been rumored in crowd whispers all evening, the looks of Trey Anastasio was not solely shocking, however fairly welcome. It definitely motivated Billy. The five-song mini-set with the star visitor featured a few Phish numbers, however it was the three bluegrass covers the place the huge quantity of expertise on stage actually excelled. On the finish, this present immediately catapulted right into a “better of yr” class and we proceed to be amazed on the stage of excellence achieved by this band. See you at Nassau in November!
I recorded this set in an advert hoc roped-off taper’s part subsequent to the soundboard with the outdoors-friendly Neumann giant diaphragm mics. Whereas the wind finally cooperated and barely could be heard throughout this recording, the group yapping is an issue throughout quiet moments. Luckily, the venue’s sound high quality and the very good combine by uber-talented FOH Andy Lytle offered us with the components for a wonderful seize, and I’m nonetheless fairly happy with this recording. Get pleasure from!
Obtain the Full Present from Archive.org [HERE]
Stream the Full Present:
Billy Strings
2022-06-29
Pier 17
New York NY
Digital Grasp Recording
Recorded at Soundboard Cage
Neumann TLM-102s > Sound Gadgets 744t > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav recordsdata > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (monitoring) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging by way of Foobar)
Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
Setlist:
Set 1 [Total Time 1:08:26]
01 Pink Daisy
02 Finish of the Rainbow [Frank Wakefield]
03 Working The Route
04 Hellbender
05 Mud In a Baggie
06 Dealing Despair
07 [banter]
08 Watch It Fall
09 In Tall Buildings [John Hartford]
10 House
11 Fearless [Pink Floyd]
12 [banter – rooftop]
13 Turmoil and Tinfoil
Set 2 [Total Time 1:20:15]
14 Sally Goodin
15 Should Be Seven
16 Meet Me on the Creek
17 16-16 [David Grisman]
18 Shut By [Bill Monroe]
19 Again on the Prepare
20 Love and Remorse
21 I’m Blue I’m Lonesome [Bill Monroe]
22 All Fall Down [John Hartford]
23 My Love Comes Rolling Down [Watson Family]
24 Gotta Jibboo
*Tracks 19 by way of 24 with Trey Anastasio
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