Our final expertise with Billy Strings earlier this 12 months was so overwhelmingly constructive that it appeared pretty apparent that we might be again. Fortuitously, the chance got here prior to later. Due to a beneficiant follower on twitter, we had been in a position to safe a ticket to this very sold-out present that includes Billy Strings taking part in on the South Avenue Seaport rooftop this previous Wednesday.
Whereas the excitement 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 all the time been entranced by the sheer virtuosity of Strings’ guitar taking part in and the wizardry of the band as a complete, and we had been in a position to verify these expectations at the Cap in February. However this efficiency at Pier 17 raised the bar even greater. Joined by fiddler extraordinaire Alex Hargreaves (who later within the tour apparently agreed to turn out to be 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 encourage each the band and the tune selections. The quilt of John Hartford’s 1976 traditional “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 means of the normal “Sally Goodin”. Finally the set developed into the present’s spotlight – a livid almost 20-minute “Meet Me on the Creek”, that managed to stay important and driving for its total improvisational five-member instrumental section. As had been rumored in crowd whispers all evening, the looks of Trey Anastasio was not fully stunning, however fairly welcome. It actually 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 12 months” 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 massive diaphragm mics. Whereas the wind finally cooperated and infrequently may be heard throughout this recording, the group yapping is an issue throughout quiet moments. Fortuitously, the venue’s sound high quality and the excellent combine by uber-talented FOH Andy Lytle supplied us with the components for a superb 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 information > 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 Purple Daisy
02 Finish of the Rainbow [Frank Wakefield]
03 Operating 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 Residence
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 Practice
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 means of 24 with Trey Anastasio
