All Hallows’ Eve descended upon Baltimore, Maryland, on Thursday night. Men and women walked along the streets in their striped, prison-style jumpsuits, headed for CFG Bank Arena to celebrate Billyween. The night was warm under a new moon, and this time of year, the veil is thin.
The backstage walls of the Arena were decorated with pictures of legends like Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and Fleetwood Mac, and seeing this verified just how revolutionary Billy Strings’s music truly is. His music is a rite of passage, and everyone should do what they can to see him and his band live to understand what’s happening beyond just the album.
As his fanbase continues to expand, Billy’s crew consistently raises the quality of the production, and you can sense a constant hunger to bring more to the viewers as a sign of mutual appreciation. Billy is the artist at large, yet he shares the stage and spotlight with other musicians like none other. A longtime fan of his bluegrass genre, he has found a way to stay true to its roots while warping it into its own beast, creating something for the world that hasn’t been seen or heard before.
Billyween was a full-on theatrical production with incredible set design, a story told beautifully through actors and musicians, and songs meticulously chosen for each moment. This year, the band chose to emulate the Soggy Bottom Boys from the well-known movie O Brother, Where Art Thou, which boasted one of the most fantastic bluegrass albums in a film to date. This tribute did not disappoint.
An old-style radio station titled “WCFG” was set up on the left, where the radio host counted down the minutes until showtime with his dated microphone, periodically guiding the story the whole way through the night. The lights went down, and a trail of prisoners shuffled across the stage, each with a hammer over their shoulder. Billy and the Boys shifted in with them in chains and shared one mic at the front of the stage, where they sang their first tune, “Richard Petty,” a cappella. The prisoners then began banging hammers along the stage about a prison break while the Boys played “Lonesome Road Blues” and “Big Rock Candy Mountain.” The sheriff and his men came out waving flashlights and chasing the prisoners around, and everyone scattered, including one man who leaped off the stage into the pit to join the crowd, gleefully celebrating his escape.
Then we entered the immersive journey of the runaway as we danced along to “Running the Route,” which segwayed into “Running.” A patron in the crowd waved a sign bearing “Runn Oft,” and everyone settled into this classic storyline. A glorious harmony filled the room as women in white dresses, led by Lindsay Lou, Sierra Hull, and Rachael Davis, poured across the stage, all chanting together to “Down to the River to Pray.”
The set was then transformed into a cozy night under the stars, equipped with swaying trees and a crackling bonfire, where Billy was greeted by Chris Thomas King, who starred in the popular film. He is escorted to the stage by the devil himself, perfectly accenting his bluesy appeal. Billy is now dressed in his blue coveralls and a matching flat cap. The two of them played “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues.” After this tune, Billy shouted, “Come on out, boys, the coast is clear!” the whole band returned, including Duane Trucks on drums and Jerry Douglas on steel guitar, to bring forth a spirited version of “Grave Digger Gonna Cut You Down.”
The stage was colored with red lighting and fire dancers, enveloping us in a primal mood. The devil reclaimed the soul of Chris Thomas King, and we are now gifted with Chris Jacobs, who plays along to “Take the Money and Run.” Confetti in the shape of money pours from the sky, falling onto the crowd, and everyone grabbed it as if it were real. The set ended with “Keep on the Sunny Side,” and the Boys were chased off the stage from the echoing sounds of the hounds while the radio host and Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon played their whimsical part to close out the first set and lead us into intermission.
Everyone poured into the halls of the arena to chat, and you could see just how intricate everyone had gotten with their costume details. Notable outfits usually accompany every concert, but there’s something special about Halloween, mainly when such a large group stayed true to the theme. The audience was buzzing with good energy, and everyone was eager to dive into set number two.
The ladies returned to the stage to harmonize on “I’ll Fly Away” as a woman spun in an aerial hoop; the crowd applauded each contortion. A group of younger girls came up next and sang “In the Highways” while Billy played guitar. He then escorted them off the stage, and we were rejoined by the mystical sirens who then seduced the crowd with their rendition of “Didn’t Leave Nobody But the Baby,” and women sauntered across the stage and quenched the Boys’ thirst during “Meet Me at the Creek” with a mysterious drink that seems to send them “Spinning” into a deep trip. The song was altered into a story of a toad and how they were “gazing into the abyss of its nothingness.”
The visuals were wildly impressive here; the large screens that show close-ups of the musicians now had a filter that distorted vision, as if impaired by hallucination. Then, the jams within the songs became deeper and more jagged and unpredictable, setting this music apart from anything else. When music entered a flow state where it is improvised and purely played through the feeling in each moment, we are reduced to tears or chills or simply in awe of the moment before us. We followed the frog into the crowd-pleasing “Hide N Seek,” which led to a booming applause that held for quite a long moment, from which the band paused and took the time to soak in.
The Boys, adorned in long beards, were accompanied by Jerry Douglas for a long stretch of tunes, including “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” and a personal favorite, “In the Jailhouse Now,” led by a yodeling Tim Blake Nelson, who also starred in the film. A jovial and peppy Vince Herman stepped back into his role to ask the Boys if they are “finished with their mischief-making for good.” Once they nod and agree, he joined them with his guitar to sing “Let in a Little Light.”
Our next Billyween treat was a special visit from T-Bone Burnett, who produced the O Brother, Where Art Thou? album. Looking cool as ever in his dark sunglasses, he joined in a rendition of Johnny Cash’s “When the Man Comes Around,” which was a memorable vibe. The man did come back around and the boys were apprehended once again by the law. Following this, Billy took center stage solo to sing “O Death” a cappella. Billy has masterful guitar skills, but his voice has also become more embodied and powerful over the years, which was clearly shown through the control in the many trills featured in this piece. The crowd was incredibly supportive of this one. This led to a grand finale, with the many guests reappearing to sing “When the Levee Breaks,” then capped the show off with “Angel Band,” leaving us at a cliffhanger in the story that only the second night could spell out.
This was so much more than a concert; the feelings from witnessing such a masterpiece have not yet subsided. How lucky we are to get a Billyween in the state of Maryland, and we look forward to seeing whatever beautiful tale the band chooses to tell next year. If anyone could bring the story of O Brother, Where Art Thou? to life, it’s Billy and his band. Billy Strings has done something very special for the music world, and we cannot get enough. Happy Billyween!
