London Gets A Taste Of Billy Strings’ Musical Virtuosity at O2 Forum Kentish Town (SHOW REVIEW)

Along with jazz and blues, one could argue that there is perhaps no other musical genre more synonymous with America than bluegrass. For nearly the past century, bluegrass has had a profound impact on the shaping of the modern American musical landscape with lasting effects that continue to reverberate to this day from coast to coast. Bluegrass festivals of all shapes and sizes litter the country throughout the year while cities and towns from Seattle to Miami play host to seemingly thriving bluegrass scenes. And while bluegrass’s stateside roots generally trace back to the 1940s, with Bill Monroe credited as its founding father, a more-than-cursory look at the genre’s history reveals a much deeper past that harkens back several centuries to the British Isles. 

As the first colonial settlers began to arrive on America’s shores during the 17th century, they brought with them their homeland’s musical instruments, most notably the fiddle, as well as a collection of ancestral folk tunes such as “Billy in the Low Ground” and “Soldier’s Joy”. As these pioneers migrated throughout the southeastern United States and settled along the Appalachian foothills, they gradually adapted their native material to their new rustic environs, ultimately resulting in the one-of-a-kind “high lonesome sound” that is the backbone of bluegrass music. 

While the historic similarities between America and England’s bluegrass scenes are readily apparent, the two countries’ musical stylings have veered apart significantly in the past few decades. As western audiences have eagerly adopted a taste for a more progressive sound, giving rise to nationally-touring acts such as Greensky Bluegrass and Yonder Mountain String Band, their British counterparts have taken a decidedly more conventional approach, focusing instead on predominantly traditional material performed for considerably smaller crowds. Aside from a few brief overseas jaunts from legendary American artists such as Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, and Bela Fleck, U.S.-based bluegrass has had little impact in the United Kingdom. Until now. 

Since bursting onto the scene a few years ago, Michigan native Billy Strings has fundamentally re-shaped the American bluegrass musical landscape. Quickly ascending from performances in cramped bars and clubs to selling out cavernous amphitheaters and arenas typically reserved for NHL and NBA franchises (an unprecedented feat for a bluegrass act featuring a sans-percussion lineup), it seemed inevitable that the young firebrand’s widespread appeal would eventually make its way across the Atlantic Ocean. 

That inevitability came to fruition earlier this year in March when Strings and his talented ensemble, at the time consisting of Billy Failing (banjo), Royal Masat (bass), and Jarrod Walker (mandolin), made their London debut with a trio of intimate gigs, including stops at Rough Trade East, a cozy record & book store located in the city’s lively East End area, as well the Islington Music Hall, a century-old live music venue and events space with a capacity of just under 900 patrons. 

Originally conceived as something of an international litmus test by Strings’ management to gauge the level of interest overseas, that brief March expedition was apparently a rousing success as a full-blown late 2022 European tour was quickly scheduled thereafter, bringing Strings and company to multiple cities across the European mainland and the British Isles, including Copenhagen, Berlin, Glasgow, and Amsterdam, for the first time.

Among the more highly-anticipated stops on Strings’ European tour was his return to London this past Wednesday evening (12/7) at the O2 Forum Kentish Town, an ornate theater dating back to the 1930s located in an otherwise non-descript residential area slightly north of the city.

Despite the relatively subdued demeanor emanating from the sold-out crowd of nearly 2300 attendees (which is more of a testament to the generally stoic English culture and their sense of “restrained jubilation” than anything else), the band managed to deliver a pair of high-energy sets that featured a typically healthy mix of traditional covers and psychedelia-fueled original material.  

After kicking things off shortly after 8:15 pm local time with an endearing rendition of Al Robinson’s geographically relevant “In Foggy Old London”, Strings led the group through Leroy Drumm and Cal Freeman’s fan-favorite “Slow Train” before delivering a few heartfelt words about the surreal experience of performing halfway across the globe, a notion which the remarkably respectful, and predominantly native, crowd audibly appreciated.

Strings’ original material dominated the remainder of the first set, including performances of a handful of tracks from the group’s 2021 studio release Renewal, as well as an exploratory version of “Wargasm”, an unreleased politically-charged piece that featured some of Strings’ most jaw-dropping guitar work of the evening thanks to his tactful use of flange and distortion effects pedals. 

The opening stanza came to a spirited conclusion with “Dust in a Baggie”, a rendition that included a genuinely surreal moment as the crowd seemingly knew every word to the song’s anthemic chorus, a truly remarkable feat considering a large majority of the audience had never seen Strings perform live prior to this evening. 

After a quick intermission, Billy returned to the stage for a brief solo instrumental interlude entitled “Guitar Peace” before the remaining members joined the guitarist and launched into a predictably well-received performance of Pink Floyd’s “Fearless”.

Another Renewal track, “Know It All”, preceded one of the evening’s highlights, an extended take on String Cheese Incident’s jam band special, “Black Clouds”, which featured a spacy instrumental breakdown helmed by Strings and newest band member Alex Hargreaves on fiddle. 

The remainder of the evening’s original material was rounded out with “Gone A Long Time”, an unreleased autobiographical entry about life on the road penned by Strings and Walker, as well as another pair of Renewal tracks, “Hellbender” and “Love & Regret”, the latter of which counts among Strings’ strongest ballads and showcases his uniquely formidable songwriting abilities. 

The show closed with a quintet of mostly traditional covers, including a fiery sequence of “Handsome Molly”, Frank Wakefield’s “New Camptown Races” and Reno & Smiley and The Gang’s “Unwanted Love”, as well as a final nod to their host city with Tom Paxton’s “Leaving London”. 

Billy Strings proves his crossover success even includes oceans, as the fearless young string artist continues to go where no Bluegrass artist has gone before both musically and physically.