Photograph by Andrew Blackstein
Over the past two nights, Greensky Bluegrass brought mountain music to Brooklyn, NY. Dodging the forecast of a “historic blizzard,” Greensky was able to land safely in the Big Apple to deliver four sets of forward-thinking string music to a packed house.
The first night saw the band mix in their ‘hits’ with bluegrass classics. “Old Barns” preceded the classic “Pig In A Pen” and “What Happened To Jim?” made way for a cover of Newgrass Revival’s “Can’t Stop Now.” “33443,” “Kerosene,” and “Windshield” also found their way in to a packed first set, wasting no time in giving the Greensky faithful what they wanted.
Set two jammed out a little bit more than the first set, as their known to do. Starting off with a furious “Burn Them” from the newest album If Sorrows Swim, the second set fluctuated between high-energy bluegrass and slower ballads. A notable segue was when Jimmy Martin’s “Freeborn Man” made way in to Dire Strait’s “Money For Nothing.”
Bill Monroe’s “White House Blues” was covered before ending the set with “Leap Year,” another energetic cut off the newest effort from the bluegrass quintet. Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” acted as a rightful encore as the band closed out night one, just a few miles from New Jersey’s border.
01/28/2015-BROOKLYN BOWL-BROOKLYN, NYSet 1: Worried about the weather, Old barns, Pig in a Pen, 33443, Kerosene, Windshield, Jaywalkin, Gumboots, What happened to Jim, Can’t stop nowSet 2: Burn them, Dustbowl overatures, Freeborn man>Money for nothing, Bottle dry, Whitehouse Blues, Fo sho-UH huh, Reverend, Leap yearE: Atlantic city
Photograph by Andrew Blackstein
Night two turned up the heat, bringing more energy along with a pair of very special guests to join the barn-burning Brooklyn bloc. Eric Krasno made a musical baby with Anders Beck during a gorgeous duet on “Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox,” a tune made famous by the Grateful Dead. [Video Below]
Greensky brought Andy Falco of the Infamous Stringdusters out for some picking as well! During the second set, Falco joined in on “Working On A Building” before a heavy tease of “The Other One” and then a segue in to “Eat My Dust.” Guitarist Dave Bruzza had his musical moments with Falco as the two played off each other with incredible intensity and chemistry.
A jam-packed medley of “Tarpology” and “One Slip” closed out the second set before inviting Eric Krasno back out to cover the Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider.” The Allman Brothers, of course, ended their 45 year run in the city just a few months ago, making it a fantastic choice of a closer. The energy truly reached a boil as the crowd belted out the lyrics to Gregg Allman’s 1970 tune.
Of course, the bigger picture of Greensky’s first two-night NYC run is the incredible growth that the band has achieved in recent years. Their newest album made its way in to our list of 2014’s best albums and the quintet seems to get better and better with each performance. With a dedicated bunch of bluegrass stompers behind them, Greensky Bluegrass is currently trailblazing a route to bluegrass dominance.
01/29/2015-BROOKLYN BOWL-BROOKLYN, NYSet 1: Just to lie>Train Junkie, The 4, In Control, A Letter to Seymour, I’d Probably Kill You, All 4, Breadbox #Set 2: Bring out your Dead, Working on a building*, Other One Tease>EMD*, What’s left of the Night, Wings for Wheels, Demons, Hit parade of Love, Tarpology> One Slip>Tarpology>One Slip>TarpologyE: Midnight Rider##-with Eric Krasno *- with Andy Falco
Photograph by Andrew Blackstein