The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band wowed its Bay Area fans — perhaps for the last time ever in concert — on opening day of the 2025 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco. If these musicians hold true to their stated intentions then that means that this beloved free festival in Golden Gate Park very likely hosted the last ever Nitty Gritty Dirt Band show in the Bay Area. This (probable) NGDB finale was one of the big highlights of Day 1 (Friday) of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and ranks as the biggest music event in the Bay Area. This festival’s silver anniversary run actually kicked-off on Thursday with a tribute to Emmylou Harris, the country music legend who has been on the lineup for all 25 years of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Everybody had their favorites on the day, but its doubtful that anyone delivered the goods better than the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did on the Swan Stage.