Greensky Bluegrass Celebrates 25th Anniversary With Hometown Halloween Run

Halloween was a particularly celebratory night for Greensky Bluegrass, who took the stage at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan, exactly 25 years to the day from the first concert billed as “Greensky Bluegrass.” The celebration carried over for a second hometown show on Saturday, with special guests sharing the stage with the five-piece band on both nights.

Mandolinist Paul Hoffman, guitarist Dave Bruzza and banjoist Michael Arlen Bont first took the stage under the Greensky Bluegrass moniker for an impromptu show on Halloween night in Kalamazoo in 2000. Bassist Mike Devol came aboard in 2004 and dobroist Anders Beck cemented the GSBG lineup in 2007.

Vocalist Lindsay Lou, who also started her professional music career in Michigan, was part of both concerts in Kalamazoo, appearing for all four sets at Wings Event Center. Bluegrass veteran Sam Bush added mandolin and fiddle to the mix on Halloween.

Another frequent Greensky Bluegrass collaborator, keyboardist Holly Bowling, was on with the band for the entirety of night two, save for that show’s encore. Bush, Bowling and Lou were among the guest contributors to GSBG’s retrospective album, XXV, which was released on Halloween.

The October 31st show began with a timely bust out of “Boys Are Back In Town” as the members of Greensky emerged wearing silver suits to mark their silver anniversary. Bush’s attire matched the band’s when he joined them and Lou wore a silver dress as well.

A rarely played original, “Greensky Breakdown,” was pulled out in the first set and aided by Bush’s fiddle. Set two featured covers of “Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana” and Prince’s “1999,” and the debut of Bush’s “Circles Around Me.”

There was another reason to celebrate during the second show held on Saturday as it was Anders Beck’s birthday. Among Lou’s second show contributions was leading GSBG through their first time playing “Nothing’s Working,” the song she co-wrote with Michigan-native Billy Strings for his 2021 album, Renewal. The first set on Saturday ended with “Windshield” performed as a duet by Hoffman and Bowling.

Set two on night two also worked in an unexpected “Let It Grow” by the Grateful Dead inside the opening “Courage for the Road.” The members of Greensky Bluegrass were the only musicians on the Wings Event Center stage for the hometown weekend’s fitting finale, delivering an encore of “Old Home Place” and “Drink Up And Go Home.”

Between concerts, Greensky Bluegrass staged a surprise pop-up acoustic show at Bell’s Brewing, where they performed numerous times in the formative years of the band.

Watch on-demand replays of Greensky Bluegrass’ two Wings Event Center nugs livestreams.

Setlists (via GSBG PT)

October 31

Set One: Boys are Back in Town, Out & Under, Tied Down, Grow Together[1], Run or Die, All Four[2] > One More Love Song[2], Greensky Breakdown[2], Wish I Didn’t Know[1][2] > It’s Not Mine Anymore[1][2]

Set Two: Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana[1][2], Blood Sucking F(r)iends[1][2], Leap Year[1][2] > 1999[1][2] > Leap Year[1][2], Broke Mountain Breakdown[2] > Worry for You[2], Circles Around Me[1][3][4], Can’t Stop Now[1][2], Kerosene[2]

Encore: (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life[1][2]

Notes:

• [1] w/ Lindsay Lou (vocals)
• [2] w/ Sam Bush (fiddle)
• [3] w/ Sam Bush (mando, vocals)
• [4] first time played
• Full show w/ Holly Bowling #Greensky

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November 1

Set One: Reasons to Stay > Time > Breathe Reprise, In Control[1], Last Winter in the Copper Country[1], A Letter to Seymour[1], Nothing’s Working[1][2], Take Cover, Born Again, Windshield

Set Two: Courage for the Road > Let It Grow > Courage for the Road, Demons, 33443 > Wings for Wheels[1], Distracted[1], Old Barns, Solstice > Living Over[1], Past My Prime[1] > Solstice

Encore: Old Home Place[3], Drink Up and Go Home[3]

Notes:

• [1] w/ Lindsay Lou (vocals)
• [2] first time played
• [3] No Holly