Phish Welcomes Home State Hero Billy Strings In Grand Rapids

Michigan’s own Billy Strings joined Phish on Tuesday for an extended collaboration at the band’s first of two nights at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. Strings emerged with a Paul Reed Smith electric guitar in hand after a rare mid-second set “Harry Hood” and introduction from Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio as a “little local musician” whom the crowd may know. Billy teamed with Phish for the last three songs of their second set and returned to add to the evening’s lengthy encore.

Phish returned to Grand Rapids and Van Andel Arena on Tuesday for the first time since November 11, 1998. Billy Strings, aka William Apostol, was born an hour away from Grand Rapids in Lansing, Michigan. The guitarist was raised in Muir, a small town in between Grand Rapids and Lansing. The Grand Rapids music scene was pivotal to Strings’ development as a musician and he shared memories of busking on the steps of the 12,000-seat venue a decade prior during his wrestling-themed Halloween 2023 concert at the Van Andel Arena.

Billy Strings has long been a fan of Phish and started covering “Back On The Train” in 2017. Strings brought out Trey Anastasio at a June 2022 concert in New York City and Billy returned the favor at a TAB show in Fairfax, Virginia the following November. Anastasio went on to attend and perform at Apostol’s September 2023 wedding in Cadillac, Michigan

Strings came out and tangled with Anastasio on “The Moma Dance.” The jam took time to develop but after the guitarists got comfortable, Phish and Apostol took the classic song deep. Next, Billy Strings had a turn leading the band through “Possum” before he added backing vocals and fretboard fireworks galore to a well-jammed, set-closing “Everything’s Right.”

Trey Anastasio and Billy Strings sported acoustics when the band came back to the stage. The three-song encore began with covers of Hot Rize’s “Nellie Kane” and Del McCoury’s “Beauty Of My Dreams.” Both were 2024 debuts with the former on the shelf since August 6, 2021 — a span of 146 shows. The two guitarists then swapped their acoustics for electrics in time for a blazing “Carini” finale.

Setlist (via Phish.net)

Watch pro-shot video of “Everything’s Right” below:

Watch fan-shot video of Billy Strings teaming up with Phish below:

The sit-in came despite some misdirection from Billy Strings on Instagram who posted a photo of the Nashville skyline as seen through the windshield of his prized 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle. Apostol’s car is featured in the video for “Leadfoot,” the lead single from his forthcoming studio album, Highway Prayers.

The guest appearance by Strings — just the band’s fourth non-Halloween/New Year’s eve collaboration since 2015 following performances with Derek Trucks, Dave Matthews and Bob Weir — wasn’t the only reason Phish’s Tuesday night concert in Grand Rapids was historic. The show also marked lighting director Chris Kuroda’s 1,800th show behind the board for the quartet.

Billy Strings closed out the first half his summer tour this past weekend in State College, Pennsylvania. Next up on the guitarist’s touring schedule is his Gorge debut on Saturday, August 10 as part of Willie Nelson‘s Outlaw Music Festival tour stop in Washington state.

Phish returns to Van Andel Arena on Wednesday. Livestreams can be purchased at LivePhish.com.

Read a full recap and The Skinny from Tuesday's show by RJ Bee.