The String Cheese Incident whipped up a batch of special sauce for fans at the Waller Creek Amphitheater at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q in Austin, TX over a tasty three-night run last weekend. With ingredients like choice song selection mixed with a liberal amount of top-shelf musicianship and a heaping dollop of love, it was a perfect match for the sweet meat treats on the venue’s menu. The band even found a little room in the kitchen for surprise guest Tony Hall of Dumpstaphunk.
One of the things Cheese fans often identify as the source of their love for the band is the unique positive energy the group brings to every show. Whether singing along with Keith Moseley on the chipper “Get Tight”, trancing out to the psychedelic “Pygmy Pony”, or pondering the Buddhist philosophies offered up in “Enjoy The Ride”, fans on Thursday could be sure they were getting served something they can’t really get anywhere else. Even a straight country tune like Waylon Jennings‘ “Good Hearted Woman” becomes something purely idiosyncratic after it has a little of Cheese’s signature sound sprinkled on it.
Multi-instrumentalist Michael Kang showed off his range during the second set playing psychedelic fiddle on songs like set two opener “Rivertrance”; Bill Nershi stirred up the crowd with one of his famous “Group Hoots”; and the exuberance of “Way Back Home” unleashed the drum and percussion duo of Michael Travis and Jason Hann. Nershi’s always-delectable storytelling skills were on display in the “Texas” finale.
Thursday’s show was a filling first helping of tunes. The after-dinner mint encore of “Colliding” gave fans one last midnight snack before sending them to bed with bellies and hearts full.
The String Cheese Incident – “Song in My Head”, “Get Tight” – 11/2/23
The String Cheese Incident – “Restless Wind” – 11/2/23
No matter how many times Nershi has taken the stage, his raw exuberance as he bounds over to his onstage station remains a joyful sight. There’s nothing like an artist, or anyone for that matter, being so clearly happy to get to do what they do—and why wouldn’t Nershi be pleased to work with this collection of top-shelf players all at their peak of musical ripeness? When straight fiddle tunes like “Lonesome Fiddle Blues” can be morphed into transcendental jams without losing their cohesion, it’s got to feel like he and his band can whip up anything and serve it up with pride, confident that it will go down easy.
After Michael Kang noted that his and Keith Mosely’s fathers were both in attendance, the pair went on to show their presumably proud papas how much magic they could make. The first set alone contained one of Cheese’s best works collaboratively penned with Beats Antique, world music flavored “Bagra Saanj”, and a standout jam between set enders “Looking Glass” and “Tinderbox”.
Thought-provoking lyrical messages like the hyper-positive “Believe” mixed with Cheese classics like the revved-up “Don’t It Make You Wanna Dance” and newer tracks like “Trip The Lights Fantastic”, making for a hefty serving of audience-pleasing jams. The set-closing one-two of “African Skies” into “Hi Ho No Show” had the packed outdoor crowd hungry for more. That hunger, though partially satiated by the two-song encore of “Honky Tonk Heroes” and “All We Got”, would have to wait for Saturday’s run-ending final course.
The String Cheese Incident – “So Far From Home”, “Lonesome Fiddle Blues” – 11/3/23
Show opener “Can’t Stop Now” seemingly started with mid-show energy, picking up perfectly where SCI left off the night before. By the time beloved “Mouna Bowa” got going, the audience was all smiles. At the end of the set, a sequence of “Round the Wheel”, Bob Marley‘s always welcome “Lively Up Yourself”, and “Let’s Go Outside” made for one of the best sonic sandwiches served up all weekend.
The String Cheese Incident has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to songs about “joy” and “hope”, from the now over 20-year-old, smile-inducing “Sing A New Song” to more recent works like “Get To You”, which featured the amazing work of special guest Tony Hall.
The last echoes of the set-closing, rambunctious “Rosie” still ringing out, Cheese returned to the stage for a single-song encore, “Colorado Bluebird Sky”, a throwback to the band’s beloved mountain roots. Like waking up from a dream, they closed down their three-night pop-up and went caravanning out into the night with well wishes for the crowd and an entire venue of satisfied customers.
The String Cheese Incident – “Can’t Stop Now”, “Missin Me” > “Mouna Bowa” – 11/4/23
Setlist: String Cheese Incident | Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater | Austin, TX | 11/2/23
Set 1: Song in My Head , Get Tight, Pygmy Pony, Enjoy The Ride > Good Hearted Woman (Waylon Jennings), One Step Closer. Water > Dirk
Set 2: Rivertrance, Illegal > Jam > Restless Wind, Tore Up Over You, Desert Dawn , Group Hoot , Way Back Home , Drums > Texas
Encore: Colliding
Setlist: String Cheese Incident | Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater | Austin, TX | 11/3/23
Set 1: So Far From Home, Lonesome Fiddle Blues, Betray the Dark, Sweet Spot, Eye Know Why, Bhangra Saanj, Looking Glass (1)> Jam > Tinderbox
Set 2: Believe > Close Your Eyes, Don’t it Make You Wanna Dance , Sometimes a River, Trip the Light Fantastic, How Mountain Girls Can Love, Under African Skies > Hi Ho No Show
Encore: Honky Tonk Heroes (2)> All We Got
(1) with Red Haired Boy tease (Tony Rice)
(2) Waylon Jennings & Billy Jo Shaver
Setlist: String Cheese Incident | Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater | Austin, TX | 11/4/24
Set 1: Can’t Stop Now, Missin Me > Mouna Bowa, Eventually, Pack it Up, Lend Me a Hand, Round the Wheel > Lively up Yourself (Bob Marley)> Let’s Go Outside
Set 2: Just One Story > Can’t Wait Another Day, Sing a New Song, Black Clouds > Workin in a Coal Mine > Black Clouds, Get to You (1), Lands End > Glory Chords > Rosie
Encore: Colorado Bluebird Sky
(1) feat. Tony Hall
The post The String Cheese Incident Serves Up A Heaping Helping Of Fun During Three-Night Stubb’s Run [Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
