The String Cheese Incident Proves The Mission Is Not Impossible At Red Rocks Night 2

With so much hype (and rightfully so) surrounding Phish‘s “Bakers Dozen” run at Madison Square Garden–as Facebook and various social media feeds are inundated with what type of flavored donuts the band is handing out each night–The String Cheese Incident is currently putting on their own clinic at Red Rocks Amphitheatre this weekend. The Colorado natives are delivering some much needed dairy to our musical diet, as they are in the midst of their annual 3-night jaunt at one of the most iconic venues in the world, and their second of three nights on the Rocks on Saturday evening was nothing short of spectacular.

Analog Son opened up the evening, with a funk-fueled set, which included some serious shredding from guitarist Jordan Linit on Jimi Hendrix‘s “Voodoo Child” and “Crosstown Traffic.” Bassist Joshua Fairman showcased some serious skills on the bass, and while he is also a member of band-on-the-rise SunSquabi, nobody should sleep on Analog Son. These dudes simply get it.

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Ascending the staircase into Red Rocks is always a sight to behold, and SCI opening with beautifully played “Climb” seemed fitting in more ways than one. A cover of The Band‘s “Ophelia” got the entire crowd into it, singing along and doing their best Levon Helm impression. Kyle Hollingsworth‘s “My One And Only,” which the band debuted earlier this year on Believe, is quickly becoming a crowd-favorite, and is just a pretty tune overall.  “Black and White” led into “On The Road,” the latter of which SCI stretched out to its limits. “Colorado Bluebird Sky” ended the set, and indicated to all in attendance that this show was just getting started.

Ever the consummate showmen, as setbreak ended, Kyle and Hann ran around the venue “undercover style,” in black trench coats with squirt guns, as Kang, Billy, Keith, and Travis repelled down from the rafters of the stage to the Mission Impossible theme song. Todd Park Mohr, better known as Big Head Todd [and The Monsters], joined Cheese for the beginning of set two for a killer rendition of Eric Clapton‘s “Forever Man.”

The guitarist stayed out on stage for a rocking version of “Hot ‘Lanta,” a classic tune from The Allman Brothers Band catalog, which made its debut on the southern rock legends’ 1971 live album At Fillmore East. Not only did Big Head Todd demolish the selection’s guitar solo, but it was a touching tribute to the recent losses of both Gregg Allman and Butch Trucks. The rest of the second set was simply monstrous, with an absolutely blissful “Jellyfish” making an always welcome appearance for this Saturday night extravaganza.

The band didn’t let up from there as they segued perfectly into “Lands End>Let’s Go Outside>Howard>Just One Story.” “Howard,” in particular, witnessed a dance party of epic proportions, as SCI opened things up with with one of the best jams of the night. Everyone in attendance thought the second set would end there, because how could you follow up with anything after that? However, Cheese stoked the fire one more time with “Just One Story,” giving a proper ending to this adventure.

Essentially playing until curfew, the band had just a few minutes left to deliver a proper encore of “How Mountain Girls Can Love,” putting an exclamation point on the evening, and paying tribute to the group’s own Colorado bluegrass roots. If the first two nights were any indication, night three has all the makings to be a barn-burner of a show. You can count on that!

SETLIST: The String Cheese Incident | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | 7/22/17

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