Rothblog: String Cheese Incident Review
July 5th, 2009 at 7:44 pm by The Rothblog under Entertainment
One of the sets I was looking forward to the most at Rothbury was this one – The String Cheese Incident. The jam band favorites had been on hiatus since 2007, so the crowd was starved for the sweet sounds of the Cheese they remembered. Could it compare to the old days? Had their sound evolved over that time? Had they practiced? The crowd of more than 30,000 was frenzied with anticipation as they waited to see if String Cheese would answer the call.
As the band stepped onto the stage, Singer/Guitarist Billy Nershi raised his arms in triumph – from that point on, the crowd was theirs.
“Rollover” would open the set – a nice jam, with plenty of opportunity for the band to stretch out and gel. The first set would continue to move from jam to jam, with many songs stretching towards the 10-minute mark. A great progression from the mellow groove of “Joyful Sound”, into the Talking Heads cover “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)”, and then finally building into the blazing second half of “Rollover” to close out a satisfying first set.
If the first set featured the more acoustic-based, folk side of String Cheese, it was the second set that brought fans a more plugged-in, electrified Incident.Leading off with a funky “Outside-Inside” followed by the pseudo-bluegrass rocker “Desert Dawn”, the jams in the second set strayed further from the song structure that they were born from. Fire twirlers, hula hoopers, and on-stage aerialists complemented the music visually.
The clearest memory of the show was the encore – in a way, it encompasses all the aspects of Cheese that drew me to them in the first place. “Best Feeling” saw longtime band-friend Keller Williams take the stage on lead vocals. The tune soared, as the band jammed as they always have – a cohesive freeform in and out of the verses. Though it’s not technically a SCI song, this was one of the first tunes involving the band that I heard, so that sound has always been the definition of cheese for me. As Keller left the stage, the jam transformed at the hands of Kyle Hollingsworth on the keys. The unmistakable organ riff of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” assaulted the field at the Odeum, as the band took a brand new cover song for a ride. The show closed with “Restless Wind” a jammed out bluegrass number, which would turn out to be one of my festival highlights. I never thought I could like bluegrass – it always just fell into the same category. Then, as I discovered the String Cheese Incident, I gave it a chance. Their take on the bluegrass sound led me to similar bands, and I’ve been in love with that high-energy acoustic sound ever since. The jammed peaked, and then peaked again, as the Cheese brought the house down on the first full night of music at Rothbury.
I was lucky enough to be in the photo pit in front of the stage as the band first came out. It was a moment that a lot of people in this scene had hoped for, but never thought would come. To see the faces of the fans down in the front row was exciting and emotional – this band means a lot to them. I really loved being so close as one of their dreams come true on that night in Rothbury.
String Cheese Incident
July 3, 2009
Complete Setlist
Set I
Rollover > Can’t Stop Now, Miss Brown’s Teahouse, Mouna Bowa, Love Is Like A Train, Rain > Daryl, The Group Hoot, Joyful Sound > This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) > Rollover
Set II
Outside Inside > Desert Dawn, Black Clouds, Little Hands > Bumpin’ Reel, Close Your Eyes, Way Back Home > Drums, Texas > Blackberry Blossom > Texas
Encore
Best Feeling > Higher Ground > Restless Wind
Just here for the music.
awesome review, love it, love the cheese, miss the cheese, haven’t seen them since roo 07
Bonnaroo 07 Chees was great!
Heard of String Cheese Incident but never listened to them. Watched the Live Feed. NOW I can see why folks were so excited for this concert. They have a new fan
Same here,had herd of them, but never heard them before, but the live show rocked. The chicks on the pedistals with the hoops ruled.
[...] Wood TV: One of the sets I was looking forward to the most at Rothbury was this one – The String Cheese Incident. The jam band favorites had been on hiatus since 2007, so the crowd was starved for the sweet sounds of the Cheese they remembered. Could it compare to the old days? Had their sound evolved over that time? Had they practiced? The crowd of more than 30,000 was frenzied with anticipation as they waited to see if String Cheese would answer the call. (more…) [...]
we traveled over 25 people strong from colorado to see Rothbury – what an excellent time. This was my 40th Cheese show, and they are a favorite of mine for sure. the first set was incredible – the best Cheese show ever ever ever! the second set started just the same. my crew was very close on the left side.
then it happened. in the middle of Little Hands there was an equipment failure, and the band struggled to finish the set- listen to the tape. songs started and endend rough, the sound became incredibly thin and volume-challenged. I dont know what broke, but it was major. from our viewpoint we could see the technicians and band (especially Kang) fighting the problems to the end.
I have to give it to the Cheese – they finished the set and did the best they could. but my friends and i were asking each other “why dont they just stop?” it broke our hearts so bad, no one even talked about it the rest of the festie.
but until Little Hands, this was the best Cheese show i’d ever been to.
I hear what you’re saying about the tech difficulty for sure, and I do think they struggled. But I really believe that had it all out of their system by the time they hit the encore. I’m just starting to listen to my LiveCheese download, so I haven’t gotten their yet, but I remember it getting progressively bigger until the end of Restless Wind. It really was a huge finish in my mind… but maybe that’s just in my mind?
my bro talked to a girl from Madison House (Rothbury promoter/ SCI promoter) today. she was at the show, part of the production staff. she confirmed the equip prob, but said that the Cheese members were very positive after the show. I guess that’s the most important thing, cuz i wanna see a lot more SCI shows.
where are you getting the download? i cant wait to hear it. the girl from madison house said the show would be released as part of the “On The Road” series. i wonder how much “doctoring” they’ll do, and i’d LOVE to hear a tapers version first.
Here’s where I went to get the recording – it IS a pay to download deal, but it’s through the band, and it IS soundboard quality, so for 10 bucks I’m in
http://foxyurl.com/nTE
I imagine a tapers section audience recording will surface either here:
http://bt.etree.org
or here:
http://foxyurl.com/nTH
fairly soon. Thanks for reading!