Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley @ Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley, CA, USA, 02/26/2025

[concert_goer]

Ickes and Hensley played at Sweetwater. The crowd was thin — maybe a hundred people. What's going on, Mill Valley? Rob has been named the International Bluegrass Music Association's Dobro Player of the Year fifteen times, and Trey has been called Nashville's hottest young guitar player. If that's not enough reason to come out, what is?

They kicked things off with Brown-Eyed Women — their Grateful Dead cover always hits the mark. The first set built up beautifully, peaking toward the end with a killer run of songs by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and the Allman Brothers. Flawless, fast acoustic instrumental breaks, rich and confident vocals — just stunning.

The second set felt more introspective — at least that's how it seemed to me. Standouts included a beautifully played instrumental Wayfaring Stranger, a traditional tune featuring especially strong dobro work, and a tight, soulful Up on Cripple Creek by The Band. "Straight down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico." Yes, indeed, Mexico.

They closed with a blistering take on Friend of the Devil, stretching into an extended jam with teases of Shakedown Street and Voodoo Child. And for the encore? By request, Rob & Trey played Billy Joe Shaver's I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train — a perfect sendoff.

A truly magical night of music.

Set 1 (8:01 PM — 8:46 PM): Brown-Eyed Women, You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover, Tennessee Stud, Backstreets off Broadway, Moonshine Run, Back Up and Push, Both Ends of My Rainbow, Pride and Joy, Big River, Mama Tried, Kern River, Blue Sky

Set 2 (9:06 PM — 9:49 PM): Country Boy Rock 'n' Roll, I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall, I See No Reason Why, Another Town, Way Downtown, Wayfaring Stranger, Up on Cripple Creek, Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground, Friend of the Devil

Encore (9:50 PM — 9:55 PM): I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train