Greensky Bluegrass Welcome Holly Bowling To Portland’s Crystal Ballroom (SHOW REVIEW/PHOTOS)

Greensky Bluegrass continued their West Coast run on Thursday, November 18th with a stop at Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom. After a quick “Good evening” from mandolinist Paul Hoffman, the band got down to business with a lengthy “Run or Die,” one of several songs from the 2016 album Shouted, Written Down & Quoted to be played over the course of the show. Next up was “Monument,” a new song that debuted last summer and slated to be on an upcoming album. The band slowed things down for the yearnful “While Waiting” before hitting the crowd with some straight bluegrass picking on Ralph Stanley’s “Clinch Mountain Backstep.”

After a run through “Merely Avoiding,” Greensky reached way back in the catalog for “Bottle Dry,” from 2006’s Tuesday Letter. Guitarist Dave Bruzza took the lead on “Take Cover,” then it was back to Hoffman for the lead on “Can’t Make Time,” before the set-closing “Light Up or Leave Me Alone.” The Traffic song got the crowd fired up and eager for set two.

The quintet brought out Holly Bowling for the entire second set, transforming Greensky into 6reensky. The piano virtuoso, whose entire 45-minute opening set consisted of two songs (Grateful Dead’s “Terrapin Suite” and Phish’s “Squirming Coil”), added even more depth and flavor to the band’s already expansive string sound.

Things got rolling with Handguns tracks “Before Bring Out Your Dead” > “Bring Out Your Dead” before a 10-minute run through the title track to 2019’s All For Money. Next up was a swinging take on Little Milton’s “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” before filling the second half of the second set with original tunes. “Demons” was the sole selection from 2014’s If Sorrows Swim, then a powerful “What You Need,” followed by crowd-pleaser “200 Miles from Montana.” After playing “Past My Prime,” the band offered up a walloping, stretched-out version of “Don’t Lie” to close the set. After a lot of stomping on the Crystal Ballroom’s bouncy floor, the band came back to play Otis Redding’s sweet song “That’s How Strong My Love Is” to finish the evening.

Greensky Bluegrass, Crystal Ballroom, Portland, Oregon, 11/18/2021

Set 1: Run or Die, Monument, While Waiting, Clinch Mountain Backstep, Merely Avoiding, Bottle Dry, Take Cover, Can’t Make Time, Light Up or Leave Me Alone

Set 2: Before Bring Out Your Dead > Bring Out Your Dead, All For Money, That’s What Love Will Make You Do, Demons > What You Need, 200 Miles From Montana, Past My Prime > Don’t Lie

Encore: That’s How Strong My Love Is

All of Set 2 with Holly Bowling on keyboards.
What you Need with Guido Batista on Vibraslap

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