With help from a rotating roster of bassists, The String Cheese Incident on Thursday finished an intimate adventure at Belly Up Aspen in Colorado. The band’s last of three shows at the 450-capacity music hall featured assistance from Miles Altgelt (Cream Cheese Accident) and Mike Devol (Greensky Bluegrass) who subbed in for usual low-ender Keith Moseley who had to undergo emergency retina surgery on Monday. The show also saw a sit-in from Rapidgrass guitarist Mark Morris.
Before getting down to business, The String Cheese Incident had some celebration in store as Thursday marked keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth‘s 55th birthday. After serenading Hollingsworth and offering their sincere thanks to the people of Aspen for hosting the band and letting them hit some of the world-famous snow (or powder, as they call it), The String Cheese Incident kicked the show into gear with “Rollover”.
Miles Altgelt of Austin, TX SCI cover band Cream Cheese Accident sat in with the band on bass through a transition into “Eye Know Why” followed by “Barstool” before switching off with Greensky’s Mike Devol for “Dudley’s Kitchen”. The fellow jamgrass bassist would stick around for the remainder of the first frame, including a fan-favorite cover of Talking Heads‘ “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)”. Seguing through “Land’s End” and the “Glory Chords” choda, The String Cheese Incident closed out set one with a jovial “I Know You Rider” featuring Morris on guitar.
A “Group Hoot” ushered in the final set of the run, with Altget onstage with the band for the entire second frame. Cheese loaded this last set with classics from front to back, including “Close Your Eyes”, a cover of Weather Report‘s “Birdland” in honor of late saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and the Keller Williams collaboration “Best Feeling” prior to an incendiary take on Rusty Wier‘s “Don’t It Make You Wanna Dance”. The party continued 8,000 feet up in Aspen with “Desert Dawn” > “Way Back Home” before the unfinished “Rollover” that started the show was reprised to close out set two.
It was Devol who would help take the band home for a two-song encore, beginning with “BollyMunster”. Finally, The String Cheese Incident said goodbye to Aspen with the band’s anthem of the Centennial State, “Colorado Bluebird Sky”.
Check out a gallery of images from The String Cheese Incident at Belly Up Aspen courtesy of photographer Brandon Weil. The band returns to the road in April for two sets at Backwoods Festival at Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, AR ahead of a brief tour through the Midwest and Southeast. Tickets and a full list of tour dates are available here.
The String Cheese Incident – “Rollover” – 3/2/23
Setlist: The String Cheese Incident | Belly Up Aspen | Aspen, CO | 3/2/23
Set One: Rollover¹ > Eye Know Why¹, Barstool¹, Dudley’s Kitchen², This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads)² > Land’s End² > Glory Chords² > I Know You Rider (Traditional)²³
Set Two: Group Hoot, Close Your Eyes¹, Birdland (Weatherland)¹ > Pipeline Jam¹ > Birdland¹ > Drums > Best Feeling¹ > Don’t it Make You Wanna Dance (Rusty Wier)¹, Desert Dawn¹ > Way Back Home¹ > Rollover¹
Encore : BollyMunster², Colorado Bluebird Sky²
¹ Miles Altgelt on bass (Cream Cheese Accident)
² Mike Devol on bass (Greensky Bluegrass)
³ Mark Morris on guitar (Rapidgrass)
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