Ripping Up Roundhouse: Billy Strings Brings European Tour To London

Tonight I made my way to Roundhouse, a historic venue in London’s Camden Town where the Ramones played in 1976. Members of Damned, Sex Pistols and other soon-to-form British punk bands were in attendance that night in 1976 making it a key moment in the beginning of punk.

While punk and bluegrass are on different ends of the musical spectrum, guitarist Billy Strings turns traditional bluegrass on its head just like the aforementioned bands did to rock.

The venue, as the name implies, is round. The GA floor is a huge and a balcony circles the outer edge. I was offered a floor ticket and the box office rep asked if I’d rather have a seat.

After opting for a seat, when I got to it I encountered a series of support beams lining the back of the floor leading to some restricted views. Also, fans took the “no standing” signs in the balcony seriously.

I watched the first set from my seat. Billy and his band were in fine form as they rolled through their typical mix of originals and choice covers. Strings talked between nearly every song and egged the crowd into loud cheers when he told the crowd Manchester was the next stop on the tour. “Do you want them to be louder?” was all he needed to say to garner boisterous cheers.

The sound was perfect and the audience was extremely attentive. It was nice to see a show without yapping. Everyone I interacted with was English, another great thing to see. Billy put his signature envelope filter effect to good use during such first set songs as “Thirst Mutilator,” “This Old World” and “Pyramid Country.”

Last night was one of the first Billy shows I’ve seen since fiddler Alex Hargreaves joined the band. He’s the perfect addition to the ensemble and I dug the color he brought to the music. Strings advised fans the night would be big on bluegrass and fit two Bill Monroe covers into the first set. Most of the crowd seemed in the 21 – 35 age range yet there were also many in their 40s through 60s — another awesome sight to see.

I struck up conversations with six or seven people during the first set. All were British, new to Billy’s music and were blown away. Also, kudos to Strings’ Lighting Director for making the most of a rig much smaller than his usual set up. Loved to see a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)” from the powerful yank. Often Billy danced around the stage but on “Señor” he was stationary and focused on his singing. The same was true of the ensuing “Love & Regret.” One of the guitarist’s newest songs, “Cabin Song,” ended the frame.

I made my way down to the floor for the second set. It was nice to get to dance. There seemed to be many more Americans on the floor. Thankfully they were attentive, though some came slamming through at various points of the set obnoxiously.

Story time came early in the set. Billy recalled a conversation he had with mandolinist Jarrod Walker earlier the day. Walker joked, kind of, that he peaked in the early 2010s when he played with Earl Scruggs at Titan Field. Strings explained he peaked in fourth grade when he won a talent show by performing a song he learned from his mom. He then played the tune — Pearl Jam’s “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town.” Billy is a helluva instrumentalist but he sure knows how to sing with heart, passion and power.

Strings discussed what he learned from his father after performing the song his mom taught him. One of the artists his dad turned him onto was Mac Wiseman. Billy showed off the way Wiseman used one chord as the basis for his song “Keep On The Sunny Side Of Life.” The guitarist wanted to write a song of his own in the same format and showed off that tune, “All Of Tomorrow.”

The band also paid tribute to the host city by performing The Beatles’ “I’ll Cry Instead” helmed by bassist Royal Masat and Doc Watson’s arrangement of “Leaving London.” Highlights from the tail end of the night were a rollicking “Doing Things Right” and “Turmoil & Tinfoil” finale. Wish there was a bit more jamming but I took what I could get.

Can’t wait to see Billy Strings again and wish I had time to make it to another show this tour.

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Billy Strings performs again tomorrow, Friday, November 17 at Manchester Academy in Manchester, England. A single-camera livestream from the venue’s front of house (dubbed “AndyCam” after soundman Andy Lytle) is available to nugs.net subscribers, beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

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Setlist (via BillyBase)

Set One: Thirst Mutilator > Running, Close By, Wild Bill Jones, This Old World, Pyramid Country > Ole Slewfoot, Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power) > Kentucky Mandolin [1], Love and Regret, Cabin Song

Set Two: Shenandoah Breakdown > John Hardy, Away From The Mire, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town [2], All Of Tomorrow [3], Back Up and Push, Gone A Long Time, Doin’ Things Right, I’ll Cry Instead [4], Be Your Man > Ice Bridges, Drifting With The Tide, Leaving London

Encore: Turmoil & Tinfoil

Notes:

• [1] Last Played 2021-08-28 | 255 show gap
• [2] Billy shared the story of winning his 4th grade talent show with this song and how his Mom worked with him to get it right before the show.
• [3] Billy Strings (solo) played part of Mac Wiseman’s “Keep on the Sunny Side of Love” as he explained how hearing his dad play various Mac songs inspired him to write this original.
• [4] Royal Masat on lead vocals