Greensky Bluegrass Debuts Covers & Welcomes Guests On New Year’s Eve In Atlanta

Greensky Bluegrass celebrated New Year’s Eve with a three-set concert at The Tabernacle in Atlanta on Saturday. The jamgrass quintet was augmented by guitarist/vocalist Cris Jacobs and drummer Dusty Ray Simmons for a third set and encore that included three cover debuts.

GSBG — mandolinist Paul Hoffman, guitarist Dave Bruzza, banjoist Michael Bont, dobroist Anders Beck and bassist Mike Devol — kicked off the show with “Reasons To Stay” from their 2022 studio album Stress Dreams. phoff then led the group through Pink Floyd’s “Time” and “Breathe Reprise” before the band played original “Handguns” and a cover of Flatt/Scruggs’ “Cryin’ Holy Unto The Lord (Rock Where Moses Stood)” for the first time since August. It was then back to Stress Dreams for “Give A Shit.” Greensky capped Saturday’s first set with a run of originals “Give A Shit,” “Do It Alone” and “Living Over.”

The five-piece devoted Saturday’s second set solely to originals. Greensky delivered a career-spanning frame of songs that included “Jaywalking,” “Run Or Die,” “Murder Of Crows,” “Demons” and more. Anders Beck took an opportunity between “What You Need” and “Worried About The Weather” to induct Chef Rhody into the Greensky Bluegrass Hall Of Fame. Rhody is a crew member who retired from working the band on New Year’s Eve after a 10-year stint. Chef Rhody was presented with a trophy noting he is the first inductee into the GSBG Hall Of Fame. Beck led the audience in chanting “Thank You Chef Rhody” to complete the tribute.

Jacobs and Simmons were on hand when Greensky Bluegrass returned to launch Saturday’s third set with Wilson Pickett’s “In The Midnight Hour.” Greensky had performed the song once previously on New Year’s Eve 2015. “In The Midnight Hour” bled into Stress Dreams standout “Monument.” The seven musicians then offered the GSBG debut of Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” for their final song of 2022. From there, the ensemble greeted 2023 with the traditional “Auld Lang Syne” and worked “Past My Prime” into Stress Dreams’ “New & Improved.” A standalone “Room Without A Roof” was then followed by the pairing of “Before Bring Out Your Dead” and “Bring Out Your Dead.”

Saturday’s third set continued with a tribute to Atlanta’s own Outkast via a debut cover of “Hey Ya!” Hoffman handled lead vocals on the song from 2003’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. A well-jammed, 18-minute “Leap Year” brought the frame to a close. Greensky, Cris Jacobs and Dusty Ray Simmons returned for a geographically appropriate “Midnight Train To Georgia” encore. The cover of the song by Gladys Knight & the Pips was a Greensky debut.

Listen to an audience recording of Saturday’s show captured by David Dyche below:

Greensky Bluegrass begins their winter tour on January 12 in Buffalo.

Setlist (via Phantasy Tour)

Set One: Reasons to Stay > Time > Breathe Reprise, Handguns, Cryin’ Holy Unto The Lord (Rock Where Moses Stood), Give a Shit, Kerosene, Do It Alone, Living Over

Set Two: It’s Not Mine Anymore, Jaywalking, Burn Them, Run or Die, What You Need, Worried About the Weather, Old Barns, Murder of Crows, Demons

Set Three: In The Midnight Hour [1] > Monument [1], All Night Long [2,1], Auld Lang Syne [1], Past My Prime [1] > New & Improved [1], Room Without a Roof [1], Before Bring Out Your Dead [1] > Bring Out Your Dead [1], Hey Ya! [2,1], Leap Year [1]

Encore: Midnight Train to Georgia [2,1]

• [1] – w/ Cris Jacobs (guitar, vocals), Dusty Ray Simmons (drums)
• [2] – first time played