It was an evening of celebrations on Friday at Athens, GA’s Atkins Ford Arena: the start of Billy Strings‘ winter tour, Widespread Panic‘s 40th birthday, and a celebration of life for Bob Weir.

Friday’s first of two nights on the campus of the University of Georgia marked Strings, Jarrod Walker, Alex Hargreaves, Royal Masat, and Billy Failing‘s first show since December 14th, 2025, in Austin, forgoing their typical New Year’s Eve run. Instead, Strings rang in the new year by sitting in with Widespread Panic for three nights in Atlanta. Serendipitously, last night was also the 40th anniversary of Dave Schools, John Bell, Michael Houser, and Todd Nance‘s first show under the name Widespread Panic, staged a block away at the old Mad Hatter on the same college campus.

Not one to let such a momentous occasion go by unacknowledged, Billy Strings included a rowdy cover of Panic’s “All Time Low”—a song he played with the band in December—in the first set. Punctuating the cover with a hearty “Happy birthday, Widespread Panic!”, Strings delivered the tribute many fans were likely expecting from the band’s increasingly common special guest.

The night’s other tribute to Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir, who passed away last month at 78, wasn’t such a certainty. Billy Strings has long shown an affinity for the Grateful Dead and their music, but after Bobby sat in with him at Ryman Auditorium in 2022, Strings conspicuously dropped the band’s songs from his live repertoire. Over a year later, a fan asked Strings on Instagram why he didn’t play Dead songs anymore, to which Billy replied, “just too many pigs on the teet. There are sooo many bands trying to suckle off the dead. I’ll leave that to them.”

Since May 7th, 2022, Billy Strings hasn’t covered any Grateful Dead originals at his shows (though he did helm a gripping “Wharf Rat” with Dead & Company in Golden Gate Park last summer at what turned out to be Bobby’s final run of shows). But that changed last night, as the fivesome walked back out onstage for the encore. Without a word of introduction, Billy led the band through “Me & My Uncle”—written by John Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas, but sung over 600 times by Weir with the Dead to become one of his most iconic covers with the band. Though Strings didn’t acknowledge the significance of the moment aloud, the crowd seemed to understand, as applause drowned out much of the first verse.

For the technically-minded setlist aficionados, however, Billy Strings still hadn’t covered any Grateful Dead since 2022. He saved that for the very last song, unshelving Bobby original “Cassidy” with its parting words, “Fare-thee-well now / Let your life proceed by its own design / Nothing to tell now / Let the words be yours, I’m done with mine.”

Check out video highlights from Billy Strings’ 2026 winter tour opener in Athens, GA, including covers of Widespread Panic and the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, along with full-show audio. Strings returns to the Atkins Ford Arena tonight, February 7th to finish out the run. Tickets are sold out, but you can tune in for a subscriber-exclusive livestream on nugs. Not subscribed yet? Sign up here. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your subscription or purchasing a download via the links on this page helps support our work covering the world of live music. Thanks for reading!]

Billy Strings — “All Time Low” (Widespread Panic) — 2/6/26
[Video: MrTopdogger]

Billy Strings — “Me & My Uncle” (John Phillips), “Cassidy” (Grateful Dead) — 2/6/26
[Video: MrTopdogger]

Billy Strings — Atkins Ford Arena — Athens, GA — 2/6/26 — Full Audio

[Audio: Zmanatl]

Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | Atkins Ford Arena | Athens, GA | 2/6/26
Set One: Bringing In The Georgia Mail (Fred Rose) [1], The Fire On My Tongue > Long Forgotten Dream, Crossing Muddy Waters (John Hiatt), Taking Water > Ice Bridges, Ten Degrees & Getting Colder (Gordon Lightfoot) [2] > Turmoil & Tinfoil, All Time Low (Widespread Panic) [3], Heartbeat Of America
Set Two: Georgia Buck (The Hill Billies) [4], Catch and Release [5], Dos Banjos [6], Pyramid Country [7] > Ole Slew Foot (Johnny Horton), Hellbender, Fire Line, Reuben’s Train (Traditional), My Alice, Hide and Seek
Encore: Me & My Uncle (John Phillips) [8] [10], Cassidy [9]

[1] Last Time Played 2025-04-11 | 70 show gap
[2] Last Time Played 2024-05-18 | 127 show gap
[3] Billy wished a “Happy Birthday” to Widespread Panic on their 40th anniversary
[4] Billy Strings solo on clawhammer banjo
[5] Billy Strings solo
[6] Dos Billys (Billy Strings on clawhammer banjo and Billy Failing on banjo)
[7] “Don’t Lie” (Greensky Bluegrass) tease
[8] Last Time Played 2022-03-05 | 346 show gap
[9] Last Time Played 2022-05-07 | 323 show gap
[10] This encore was a long-awaited return to Grateful Dead covers for fans, played in honor of Bob Weir, a founding member of the Grateful Dead who passed away on January 10, 2026.

Train songs: 1