The String Cheese Incident fired off the first show of its five-night Colorado homecoming by jam-packing full of joy the band’s first of two shows at the Dillon Amphitheater. Savvy Cheese fans look to the Dillon shows for a temperature check on how the band is playing ahead of what are some of the band’s most highly anticipated annual gigs at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. If last night was a real indication of “What’s to come?” the answer is one word: FUN!
The first indication of this being a home show was a visual one as guitarist Billy Nershi came out with a spiffy “Hi and Tight” haircut and beard trim. Looking sharp and all smiles it was time to rock. A Keith Mosely snaking bassline with some Michael Kang slinky fun and a crisp backbeat from percussionist Jason Hann and drummer Michael Travis served as a wonderful sonic opening stretch before settling into the Kang-sung “Black And White”.
As the jam progressed what seemed like a possible “Groove is in the Heart” from one-hit wonder DeeLite tease didn’t even have a chance to be a tease before it became a full-blown cover bust-out (LTP 11/1/19 per Setlist.fm). Here was Cheese at its finest! Playful, sure, but still deadly serious about the musicianship. It wasn’t simply enough to tease or cover a song, the band had to nail it. And then poof, back to “Black and White” to close it out.
Next up audiences got the fairly straightforward “Song In My Head” which had a fat, funky Mosely groove that led perfectly into some high energy, Nershi-picked bluegrass territory with “How Mountain Girls Can Love”. Keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth did some genre-defying jams on the piano before Kang grabbed his fiddle for a lovely fast bowed section.
The String Cheese Incident – “Black And White” > “Groove is in the Heart” (DeeLite)> “Black And White”, “Song in My Head” > “How Mountain Girls Can Love” (Carter Stanley) [Pro-Shot] – 7/11/23
Jason Hann made the most of a rare opportunity to take the vocal lead and promptly nailed “Short Shack Wille” before the whole set went and got “Born Crooked” courtesy of a bouncy, straight-ahead Mosely bassline and vocals. As the set neared closing, it was time for the first extended jam of the day, with a three-song run launching with “Pack It Up” which quickly gave way to Kang and company’s ode to “Water” before a grinning ear-to-ear Hollinsworth shared a strong finisher, dropping “The Big Reveal”.
Before the second set got started, Nershi, as he is wont to do, called upon the crowd and band alike to raise their voices as one, to join their voices and spirits and lift each other up with a group hoot and give the band members the energy they need to thrive and give it all they can. Following that they promptly got the crowd going full speed with a stellar “Just One Story” that had the first truly brilliant display of unity, dexterous musicianship, and a kick-ass crescendo and release. Directly afterward, Nershi pointed out the importance of his pre-song ritual, plainly stating “It was you…all of you that made that happen!”
The early start to this weeknight show meant it was still very much daylight but the stage was starting to get painted by increasingly available colored beams from the stage lights as “Get Tight” pulsed to life in the charming ode to lazy mountain days and romance. As if some sort of timer went off in the band members’ collective heads, the amount of mind-melting jams seemed to become a priority at this point in the evening. The proceeding one-two punch of “Sand Dollar” into “Bumpin Reel” gave Kang and Hollingsworth a chance for some fun interaction on fiddle and organ before dissolving into a wild and wooly “Bumpin’” that featured some sizzling Kang guitar and fiddle displays that got the biggest cheers of the night to that point.
“It Is What It Is” with its many lifts, dips, twists, and turns had the crowd dancing and swaying from start through its epic centerpiece jam before softly settling back down to Earth, gently letting the stunned audience catch their breath before launching the fan-favorite reggae-tinged “Shantytown”. This was a wise choice was it gave a smiling Nershi a chance to do what he does best: make a crowd move to a groove. A set-closing “Rosie” is one of those tunes only the idiosyncratic String Cheese could craft for itself and it was a wonderful track to close out the first night.
While the band fine-tuned the encore, Travis came out from behind the kit and to the front stage mic with his adorable daughter shyly nestled in his arms. Introducing her to the crowd she warmed to the moment, a bit of her old man’s showmanship peeking through as she waved. As the rest of the band rejoined them, Travis quickly passed her back to loving arms before taking his position behind his massive drum array. The bluesy “Tore Up” might not have been the most epic of encores but it was definitely a fun take on the Midnighters tune and had some stellar organ and guitar work from Kang to lift it above the ordinary.
If fans went into this opening night with the expectation of a heat check for the band, they would have had to have walked away just as happy as their less forward-looking fans. String Cheese was and is as finely tuned as they come, and the band was clearly having as much fun as the fans. There seems to be a full tank of gas, a wide open catalog, and a full weekend of fun ahead of them. Who could ask for anything more?
Setlist: The String Cheese Incident | Dillon Amphitheater | Dillon, CO | 7/11/23
Set 1: Black and White > Groove is in the Heart (DeeLite)> Black and White, Song in My Head > How Mountain Girls Can Love (Carter Stanley), Short Shack Willie, Gone Crooked, Pack It Up > Water > Big Reveal
Set 2: Group Hoot, Just One Story, Get Tight, Sand Dollar > Bumpin Reel, It Is What It Is, Shantytown (Billy & Liza), Rosie
Encore: Tore Up Over You (The Midnighters)
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