Sturgill Simpson brought his 3-hour rock show to Forest Hills Stadium (pics, video, setlist)

Sturgill Simpson is on his first full tour in over four years, and he stopped in NYC on Saturday for a 3 hour, encore-less set at Forest Hills Stadium that featured almost no stage banter and barely a break in-between songs, though he did take a short pause in the middle to introduce his band, and let one band member introduce him, as Johnny Blue Skies, the new moniker he’s adopted for his great new album Passage Du Desir, which accounted for about 15% of the 32-song setlist. The rest was a mix of songs from throughout Sturgill’s career, and covers. Though still primarily a country artist, he’s always toyed with the confines of the genre and his current format has definitely entered jam band territory (complete with nitrous balloons being sold out on the streets of Forest Hills after the show). Comparisons have been made between his new album and jam band godfathers The Allman Brothers (is his moniker a nod to “Blue Sky”?), and leaning into that, a cover of “Midnight Rider” was on the setlist, as were countrified versions of Prince’s “Purple Rain” and The Doors’ “LA Woman.” The latter was especially a highlight. Also on there was his version of “The Promise,” but at this point that song feels as much his as it does When In Rome’s, and it was one of seven tracks he played from Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, the album that made us fell in love with Sturgill 10 years ago (and which we saw him support at the much, much smaller NYC venue Joe’s Pub at the time!). It was a beautiful fall evening for an outdoor show in Queens under the stars, with a full house singing and swaying along in the historic venue. Durand Jones opened Saturday night’s show, and you can see pictures from the whole night by David Andrako, Sturgill’s setlist, and attendee-taken video from his set below. SETLIST: STURGILL SIMPSON @ FOREST HILLS STADIUM, 10/19/2024 I Don’t Mind Brace for Impact (Live a Little) You Don’t Miss Your Water (William Bell cover) Railroad of Sin The Promise (When in Rome cover) A Whiter Shade of Pale (Procol Harum cover) Right Kind of Dream All Said and Done Long White Line (Moore & Napier cover) Water in a Well Juanita Mint Tea Some Days Turtles All the Way Down One for the Road Purple Rain (Prince cover) Just Let Go A Good Look L.A. Woman (The Doors cover) All Around You Living the Dream If the Sun Never Rises Again Scooter Blues Midnight Rider (The Allman Brothers Band cover) Voices Jupiter’s Faerie Welcome to Earth (Pollywog) It Ain’t All Flowers Best Clockmaker on Mars Fastest Horse in Town Life of Sin Call to Arms