The String Cheese Incident Play ‘Night Of The Loving Dead’ Set At Suwannee Hulaween
By Jeffrey Greenblatt Oct 29, 2017 • 10:42 am PDT

Yesterday marked day three of The String Cheese Incident‘s Suwannee Hulaween festival at The Spirit Of The Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. Day three featured performances from the likes of Perpetual Groove, Tank and the Bangas, Kamasi Washington, Spafford and The Disco Biscuits, with the host band playing three sets on The Meadow stage, which included a special Halloween-themed “Night Of The Loving Dead” set.
The Colorado jam stalwarts took the stage shortly after 5 PM kicking things off with “Believe,” the title-track from their most-recent studio album. The band paired two tracks from 2005’s One Step Closer next, as the album’s title-track segued into “Sometimes A River.” Kyle Hollingsworth’s “Falling Through The Cracks,” from his 2014 solo effort Speed Of Life followed. The band stuck to their own material to fill out the rest of the first set with takes on “Give Me The Love,” “Can’t Wait Another Day,” “Joyful Sound” and “Rumble.”
SCI opened their second set of the evening with “Let’s Go Outside,” from their 2014 release Song In My Head. “Rollover” began a seamless stretch that saw the band work their way through “Song In My Head,” with pedal-steel guitarist Roosevelt Collier emerging next as they launched into a cover of Tom Petty’s “You Wreck Me,” from his 1994 solo effort Wildflowers. Collier, who had played a set earlier in the day with his own band, stuck around for a take on “Outside Inside,” that saw the band worked in a tease of Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” The band welcomed their second guest of the evening next as saxophonist Kamasi Washington, who played a set on the main stage just prior to String Cheese, joined them for a funky take on “Bumpin’ Reel.”
The band’s fifth set of the weekend was billed as “Night Of The Loving Dead.” Dressed as zombie Native Americans dressed in 1970s garb and flanked by a horn section and a pair of backup singers the love-themed set saw The String Cheese Incident cover a diverse set of artists over the course of their hour and a half-plus set. The augmented act went heavy on funk and soul tunes early on kicking things off “Love Rollercoaster” by the Ohio Players, which was followed Stevie Wonder’s “Did I Hear You Say You Love Me,” from his 1980 album Hotter Than July, Al Green’s “Love And Happiness” and Jackie Wilson’s soul classic “Higher & Higher.”
String Cheese looked to Beck next as “Think I’m In Love,” from his 2006 release The Information kicked-off a segued-filled run that featured Huey Lewis & The News’ “The Power Of Love,” Sting’s “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free,” from the bassist’s 1985 album The Dream of the Blue Turtles, and Bob Marley & The Wailers’ “Is This Love.” Bobby Blue Band’s “Turn On Your Love Light” came next, with “Let Love Rule,” the title track from Lenny Kravitz’s 1989 debut album following.
SCI’s final segued-filled love-themed run of the evening got started with a take on Sublime’s “What I Got,” before taking an unexpected detour as they used Beyonce’s mega-hit “Crazy In Love” as a springboard to weave in takes on the Black Eyed Peas “Where Is the Love,” from their 2003 release Elephunk and Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” before returning back to “Crazy In Love” to close out the set.
The String Cheese Incident returned to the stage to finish off their night with a cover of The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.” SCI’s Suwannee Hulaween comes to a close today with two more sets from the host band.
Watch pro-shot and fan-shot video from yesterday’s performance, and check out the full setlist below:
Setlist
SET I: Believe, One Step Closer > Sometimes a River, Falling Through The Cracks, Give Me the Love > Can’t Wait Another Day, Joyful Sound > Rumble
SET II: Let’s Go Outside, Rollover > Song in my Head > You Wreck Me* , Outside Inside**, Bumpin’ Reel***
*Tom Petty cover, **with Roosevelt Collier w/ Dear Mr. Fantasy tease, ***with Kamasi Washington
SET III ‘Night of the Loving Dead’ with Rhonda Thomas and Tony White: Love Roller Coaster(1), Did I Hear You Say You Love Me(2), Love And Happiness(3), Higher & Higher(4), Think I’m In Love(5) > The Power of Love(6) > If You Love Somebody Set Them Free(7) > Is This Love(8), Turn On Your Love Light(9), Let Love Rule(10), What I Got(11) > Crazy in Love(12) > Where Is the Love(13) > Crazy in Love > Whole Lotta(14)> Crazy in Love
E: Love is All You Need(15)
1.The Ohio Players cover, 2. Stevie Wonder cover, 3. Al Green cover, 4. Jackie Wilson cover, 5.Beck cover, 6.Huey Lewis & The News cover, 7. Sting cover, 8. Bob Marley cover, 9. Bobby Blue Band cover, 10. Lenny Kravitz cover, 11. SUBLIME cover, I2. Beyoncé cover, 13. Black Eyed Peas cover, 14. Led Zeppelin cover, 15. The Beatles cover