The String Cheese Incident Welcomes Guests At 1st 2 Nights Of 2018 Red Rocks Run

The String Cheese Incident made their debut at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado all the back in June of 1999 as part of “Telluride On The Rocks.” The packaged bill saw the jamgrass act play a single set alongside the likes of Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Emmylou Harris, Leo Kottke and more. This weekend the sextet continues their longstanding tradition of performing at the iconic venue with three headlining shows, which upon conclusion will bring their total number of shows at Red Rocks to 39. Over the course of the first two nights of the run, the venerable jam act delivered four career-spanning sets that included a handful of guest spots.

The band opened up their Friday night show with a pair of songs they debuted at the Red Rocks by serving up “Can’t Stop Now” and “Song In My Head,” which were first played in 2001 and 2000 respectively. SCI stuck mostly to material from their late 90s/early 2000s output in the opening frame including “Way Back Home,” “BAM!” and “Black And White.” Cheese’s second set of the night got going with a guest appearance from David Satori of Beats Antique. The augmented ensemble looked to Beats Antique’s catalog collaborating on “Egyptic” from their 2010 release Blind Threshold.

The guest spots continued as Lyle Divinsky of The Motet emerged next for “Get To You.” The tune, which was released this spring as a single, features Divinsky on vocals. The band reached to their repertoire from the early days next for “On The Road” and a cover of Peter Rowan’s “Moonlight Midnight.” “Dirk,” another tune that was debuted at Red Rocks, the old-school “Rivertrance” and a location-appropriate “Colorado Bluebird Sky” closed out the second stanza. Divinsky and JJ Grey of Mofro assisted on a show-ending take on The Meters’ “Hey Pocky Way” as the encore.

Saturday night’s show got going with fan-favorite “Miss Brown’s Teahouse.” The first set was highlighted by a lengthy jam-filled run that opened up with the instrumental “Birdland” which worked its way into a take on Pink Floyd’s “Fearless” from the psychedelic band’s 1971 release Meddle. From there, SCI would show off their bluegrass chops during Doc Watson’s “Freight Train Boogie” and Bill Monroe’s “Wheel Hoss” before returning back to close out their cover of Weather Report’s “Birdland.” The String Cheese Incident also incorporated an adventurous “Big Shoes” and the funky “Rosie” within their third set of the weekend.

As they did on night one, last night’s second set opened with a sit-in as Ruby Chase lent her talents to “Otherside.” The newer tune was released last month as a single featuring Chase on vocals as part of the band’s continuing Sound Lab Series. SCI reached for another new number next serving up “The Big Reveal” for the fourth time in the song’s short history. “Joyful Sound” was then paired with Talking Heads’ “(Nothing But) Flowers” from the art-rock act’s 1988 release Naked. A run of “Desert Dawn” > “Impressions” > “Desert Dawn” finished out the second set of the night. SCI brought the penultimate night of their 2018 Red Rocks stand to a close with a take on Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” that featured an assist from Chase and the members of opening act The Main Squeeze.

Watch pro-shot of the openers from Friday and Saturday, along with full show audio from both shows:

[Can’t Stop]

[Egyptic]

[Miss Brown’s Teahouse]

[Otherside]

Audio | Taped By Michael Frasca

Friday, July 20

Saturday, July 21

Setlists

Friday, July 20 (via SCI Facebook)

Set One: Can’t Stop Now, Song In My Head > Way Back Home, BAM!, Sweet Spot, Black and White > Bumpin’ Reel

Set Two: Egyptic* > Get To You^, On The Road, Midnight Moonlight, Dirk > Rivertrance > Colorado Bluebird Sky

E: Hey Pocky Way%

* = w/ David Satori (Beats Antique), ^ = w/ Lyle Divinsky (The Motet), % = w/ Lyle Divinsky & JJ Grey (JJ Grey & Mofro)

Saturday, July 21 (via Friends Of Cheese)

Set One: Miss Brown’s Teahouse, Betray The Dark, Birdland > Fearless > Freight Train Boogie > Wheel Hoss > Birdland, Big Shoes, Rosie

Set Two: Otherside1, The Big Reveal, Joyful Sound > Rumble, Love Is Like A Train > Nothing But Flowers, Desert Dawn > Impressions > Desert Dawn

Encore: Kashmir2

1 with Ruby Chase, 2 with Ruby Chase and The Main Squeeze