Billy Strings’ Van Andel Scramble Runs Wild, Brother

Photo by @jesse_faatz

Last night, Billy Strings brought his much-anticipated WWE wrestling-themed Halloween event, the Van Andel Scramble, to Grand Rapids, Mich.’s Van Andel Arena. The evening unfolded as a constant highlight reel lush with bust-outs, debuts, covers, theatrics and a nearly unending lineup of sit-ins from Strings’ friends who were in costume as iconic WWE superstars.

The night was christened by Nature Boy Ric Flair (woo) via a video from Flordia before the core crew was introduced by co-announcers Kenneth California and Buck Stallion on a Nugs.net livestream. One by one, they were welcomed on stage with backgrounds and promo videos: Strings walked out as Hulk Hogan, Royal Masat as The Undertaker, Billy Failing as “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Alex Hargreaves as Stone Cold Steve Austin and Jarrod Walker as Sting. The stage was outfitted with a squared circle, which each guest artist would proudly walk down in classic WWE fashion before they broke into the evening’s compositions compilation.

The bell was rung with “Blue Grass Break Down,” masterfully paired with “Dealing Despair.” With the festivities underway, they welcomed their first guest of the night: Duane Trucks, who provided a heavy backbeat on “Secrets.” Next came the first debut of the night, Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping.” The song was led by the first guest contender, Molly Tuttle, who joined on lead guitar. After the initial collaboration, Strings pushed her presence further by following up with the debut of Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway’s “Dooley’s Farm.”

Next Strings retook the reins for “Fireline” > “Reuben’s Train” before Mark Lavengood hopped on stage to handle Dobro on “Ole Slewfoot.” The debuts continued to roll out as Strings and company broke into Lavengood’s own “Sliding Rock.” The 2014 song, which features Strings, was followed by another fan favorite, “Turmoil & Tinfoil.” The next challenger, John Mailander, walked out and circled around the ring before joining the key players on a debut of Bill Monroe’s “Northern White Clouds.” The complex arrangement was pushed to its limits as Hargreaves and Mailander took up their fiddles and had a sonic battle – there was no clear winner, save for the witnesses.

Strings was then handed a Hogan hero yellow PRS for an electrified debut of The Fabulous Thunderbirds’ “Tuff Enuff.” Trucks and Mailander continued to add their skills to “Away From The Mire” before “All Fall Down” brought the set to a close. Towards the tail end of the jam, Trucks and Masat had some sonic discord, which Strings accentuated, bringing the jam to a disharmonious close. The beef was recognized by the crowd, who booed as Trucks began to exit the stage – however, Masat had other plans and tossed Trucks off stage, marking the set break.

After some backstage antics and live interviews, the barnburner continued to rage as they opened the second set with Rick Derringer’s “Real American”–another debut–equipped with electric instruments. The searing jam melded into the first “Johnny B. Goode” from Strings since Dec. 12, 2019. Next came “The Fire On My Tongue” > “Know It All,” which saw Trucks back on drums and Masat on bass guitar. In line with the boisterous entrances that peppered the night, the band debuted Metallica’s iconic “Enter Sandman.”

Next came an exploration of “Leaders” before bluegrass luminary Sierra Hull, “the pistol-packing mama, who took the stage at just 10 years old,” hopped on the ropes flexing before the band ripped into her song “Poison.” She flexed musically as well, dishing out a bounty of crescendos which Strings mirrored. She continued to assist Strings and company with the debut of Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage,” which also contained the ensemble’s first performance of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child.”

Next Strings, who was born an hour away from the venue, shared a personal story about his life and connection to the venue. He recalled seeing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Ozzy Osborne at the venue; the latter of the two barely spoke before he moved into the beautiful and introspective croonings of “Psycho” (mama.) The song wandered into the realms of “Hide and Seek,” stretched with ease by an array of effect pedals.

Next came yet another introduction, this time the Infamous Stringdusters’ Chris Pandolfi, who was stylized as the King for “Home Of The Red Fox.” Before the song began, Strings asked the crowd, “You like banjo, Brothers?” before Pandolfi made sure if they hadn’t already, they would before long. This time, Pandolfi was bet in the ring for a banjo battle versus Failing. The powerhouses returned to the stage for “No More To Leave You Behind.”

The final wrestler/musician was The String Cheese Incident’s Bill Nershi, who entered the arena to offer his guitar and vocals for a bust-out of “Restless Wind,” which hadn’t been played in 225 shows. Despite the lapse in time, Strings and Nershi’s picking was so pristine it was hard to imagine they hadn’t practiced constantly for weeks in advance. The artist lineup remained unchanged for “Black Clouds,” delivered before a penultimate debut and a cappella rendition of “Talk About Suffering” by Strings. The stilling song, nearly too euphonious, was followed up with theatrics as Strings spotted his guitar tech, Tobe Bean, in the crowd. The show was teased with online drama, and Bean stepped into the ring dressed as Rey Mysterio. However, it wasn’t before long that Strings rolled up on him, smashing his guitar on his back and pinning him.

With the winners clear and Bean subdued, all of the evening’s players joined on stage for a closing rendition of Queen’s iconic song “We Are The Champions,” the final debut of the evening. They were then awarded commemorative belts, but not before Tuttle smashed a chair on Bean’s back for good measure.

In classic Strings style, the artist has wasted no time letting fans know what is next and today announced eight evenings at four venues in three cities set for the winter of 2024. He’ll perform in Asheville, N.C., from Feb. 16 through 18, followed by a run in Nashville from Feb. 23-25 and Atlanta on March 1 and 2. The venues have yet to be announced. Learn more and find tickets here.

Billy Strings

Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, Mich.

Oct. 31, 2023

Set I: Blue Grass Breakdown > Dealing Despair, Secrets¹, Tubthumping^2,3, Dooley’s Farm^2,4, Fire Line¹ > Reuben’s Train¹, Ole Slewfoot⁵, Sliding Rock^5,6, Turmoil & Tinfoil¹, Northern White Clouds^7,8, Tuff Enuff^{9, 10}, Away From The Mire⁷, All Fall Down^11,12

Set II: Real American^{13, 14} > Johnny B. Goode^{13, 15}, The Fire On My Tongue¹⁶ > Know It All¹⁶, Enter Sandman^{13, 17}, Leaders¹³, Poison^{18, 19}, Rusty Cage^{20, 21} > Voodoo Child (Slight Return)^{20, 22} > Rusty Cage²⁰, Psycho¹⁶ > Hide and Seek²³, Home Of The Red Fox^{24, 25}, No More To Leave You Behind²⁴, Restless Wind^{26, 27}, Black Clouds²⁶, Talk About Suffering^{28, 29}, We Are The Champions^{30, 31}

1. With Duane Trucks on drums
2. With Molly Tuttle on guitar and lead vocals and Duane Trucks on drums
3. FTP- Chumbawamba
4. FTP- Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
5. With Mark Lavengood on dobro and Duane Trucks on drums
6. FTP- Mark Lavengood
7. With John Mailander on fiddle and Duane Trucks on drums
8. FTP- Bill Monroe (battle of the fiddles between Alex Hargreaves and John Mailander)
9. FTP- The Fabulous Thunderbirds
10. With Billy Strings and Jarrod Walker on electric guitar, John Mailander on fiddle and Duane Trucks on drums
11. With Billy Strings on electric guitar, John Mailander on fiddle and Duane Trucks on drums
12. Set ended with a fight between Royal and Duane with Royal tossing Duane off the stage.
13. Billy Strings and Billy Failing on electric guitar, Jarrod Walker on electric mandolin, Royal Masat on bass guitar, Duane Trucks on drums
14. FTP- Rick Derringer
15. Last Played 2019-12-21 | 342 show gap
16. With Royal Masat on bass guitar and Duane Trucks on drums
17. FTP- Metallica
18. With Billy Strings on electric guitar, Royal Masat on bass guitar, Sierra Hull on mandolin and Duane Trucks on drums
19. FTP- Sierra Hull
20. With Billy Strings on electric guitar, Royal Masat on bass guitar, Jarrod Walker on aucustic guitar Sierra Hull on mandolin and Duane Trucks on drums
21. FTP- Soundgarden
22. FTP- Jimi Hendrix
23. With Royal Masat on bass guitar, John Mailander on fiddle and Duane Trucks on drums
24. With Royal Masat on bass guitar, Chris Pandolfi on banjo and Duane Trucks on drums
25. Battle of the banjos between Billy Failing and Chris Pandolfi
26. With Royal Masat on bass guitar, Bill Nershi on guitar and shared lead vocals and Duane Trucks on drums
27. Last Played 2021-10-16 | 225 show gap
28. Billy Strings a cappella
29. FTP- Traditional
30. FTP- Queen
31. With Royal Masat on bass guitar, Molly Tuttle on guitar, John Mailander on fiddle, Bill Nershi on guitar, Sierra Hull on mandolin, Mark Lavengood on dobro Chris Pandolfi on banjo, and Duane Trucks on drums

Setlist via Billybase.net