The String Cheese Incident Steps ‘Into The Blue’ For 30th Anniversary New Year’s Eve Celebration

The String Cheese Incident kicked off their 30th Anniversary Year with a New Year’s Eve concert at the Fox Theater in Oakland. Sunday’s show, the finale of a three-night stand, saw the band weave together material from each of their three decades over the course of the evening with one decade per set.

Cheese devoted the first set to oldies debuted between 1993 and 1999. Bill Nershi led the audience in a “Group Hoot” and shared a moving speech about fans looking out for one another to get the show underway. A series of classics then began with “Smile” and continued via a “Joyful Sound” that bled into “Born On The Wrong Planet.” SCI went in to play “Moonflower,” one of their oldest originals, before bassist Keith Moseley sang “Resume” and the sextet took a trip to “Texas.” A seamless run of “Land’s End,” “Glory Chords” and “San Jose” capped the frame.

SCI’s second set on New Year’s Eve consisted of seven originals premiered between 2002 and 2011. The newest song of the set, keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth‘s “Colliding,” opened. Staple “Sometimes A River” came next along with “45th Of November” and “One Step Closer.” The instrumental “Valley Of The Jig” gave way to “Sirens” before the band took it back to 2002 for “Desert Dawn” to close the set.

The past 10 years was the focus of The String Cheese Incident’s final set on Sunday. All six members of SCI returned to the stage dressed in particularly shiny versions of the outfits featured in the 2004 movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Moseley fronted “Sweet Spot” to get the frame underway. Nershi helmed the ensuing “Eventually” and then Michael Kang fronted “Into The Blue,” which set the stage for the start of 2024. Dancers and acrobats worked over the stage as Cheese jammed into the New Year. Balloons fell from the ceiling and confetti canons were shot while the band finished “Into The Blue.”

Watch SCI welcome 2024 via fan-shot video of the celebratory “Into The Blue” below:

After cheers were exchanged, the sextet resumed the show by performing SCI Sound Lab singles “All We Got,” “Get Tight” and “Big Reveal.” The String Cheese Incident then honored their home state with “Colorado Bluebird Sky” to end the third set. Cheese hinted at a new song to start the encore but instead played “Hi Ho No Show.”

See more audience-captured footage from Cheese’s New Year’s Eve show below:

Setlist (via The String Cheese Incident Facebook)

Set One: Smile, Joyful Sound > Born On The Wrong Planet, Moonflower, Resume Man, Texas, Lands End > San Jose

Set Two: Colliding, Sometimes A River, 45th of November, One Step Closer, Valley Of The Jig, Sirens, Desert Dawn

Set Three: Sweet Spot, Eventually, Into The Blue > Happy New Year, All We Got, Get Tight, Big Reveal, Colorado Bluebird Sky

Encore: Hi Ho No Show