Bingham Bob’s

by Cody Starr

I’ve been backlogged with life lately but got to see Ryan Bingham earlier this month as he played back to back nights at Billy Bob’s. I don’t have any mind blowing revelations, I just wanted to share some images and video from that night. Everyone knows that Bingham is top shelf and the crowd was about as into it as any show I’ve seen there in recent memory.

Mini venue rehash: if you’ve never been to Billy Bob’s Texas, general admission gets you in the door where you can enjoy the show from the main bar area, dance floor and smaller front stage. Alternatively you can drop extra cash for reserved area seating which they configure differently depending on the show. Some nights they have long tables running up to the larger main stage with assigned seating while on “pit night” you get first come standing room in front of the stage and access to the reserved area dance floor.

The Saturday show was “pit night” and people were packed in. Bingham got the crowd’s blood pumping by opening with Rodney Crowell’s (but made famous by Merle) “Ain’t Living Long Like This.” Here’s video from the start of the show which includes snippets from some familiar Bingham tunes.

That’s Jesse Dayton filling in on lead and although I didn’t catch it on video, his presence brought the shred element up several notches; so much so that after about 40 minutes we had to retreat back to let our ears recover. The mix was cranked.

Bingham played for about 90 minutes, finishing with “Georgia on a Fast Train” (Billy Joe Shaver), “Hallelujah” and of course “Southside of Heaven.”

The encore ended the night right with a Clapton’s blues cover, “Key to the Highway” and then his own “Bread and Water.” Like many people I see live, I left Ryan Bingham’s show a bigger fan than before and if he rolls through your town you need to see him.