After closing out 2015 at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in Royal Oak, Michigan with a two night run, Greensky Bluegrass brought their efforts to the Vic Theatre in Chicago to ring in the New Year with another (sold out) two night run. It’s rare to see a live band continue to top themselves night after night, and this evening in Chicago was no different. During the first set, highlights included the GSBG classic “Train Junkie” and a track of their 2014 album If Sorrows Swim entitled “Burn Them”. Guitarist Darren Ney from the Gramblers came out for a cover of the Wood Brothers “Luckiest Man”, and Nicki Bluhm closed the set out with a harrowingly on-point rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”.
The second set opened up with, “Radio Blues” off Greensky’s 2006 album Tuesday’s Letter before going into a prodigious set emphasizing what only the great live bands do best, kick out the jams. The highlight of the show was without a doubt the astronomically scorching “Don’t Lie”, which segues into a hostile version of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”, where Paul, emulating Ozzy declares “Satan Laughing Spread His Wings, Oh Lord Yeah!!”, raising his arms in cryptic glory before finishing off “Don’t Lie” to close out the show. The encore included an appropriate pair of songs, “Demons“, and the Jimmy Martin bar standard, “Drink Up and go Home”.
Greensky Bluegrass continues their tour January 13th at the Old Rock House in St. Louis, then travels on to Indiana and Ohio before the tour heads Southeastern. Be sure to catch a show!
The Vic Theatre Chicago, IL January 2nd, 2016
Set 1
Auld Lang Syne, Fixin to Ruin, Train Junkie, Into the Rafters, Bring Out Your Dead, Burn Them, 200 Miles From Montana, Goldrush, Luckiest Man$, Frederico$, The Chain@
Set 2
Radio Blues, No Idea, Tarpology>One slip >Tarpology >One slip >Tarpology, White House Blues, Handguns, Cry Holy, For sure Uh Huh, Don’t Lie >War Pigs >Don’t Lie
Encore
Demons, Drink Up And Go Home
$ – w/Darren Ney
@ – w/Nicki Bluhm