Let’s review what we all know about the the adult playland that is Las Vegas. It’s the place where all inhibitions are left in your safe deposit box. Elvis is alive and still shaking his hips and curling his lip all over the city on a nightly basis. Fortunes are made and lost. Britney Spears, David Copperfield, and Cher cling to life in a city full of Wayne Newton impersonators and countless incarnations of Cirque Du Soleil. Debauchery replaces the word “fun” in this town, and everyone is protected by the moniker “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Then there is Love. It’s quite possibly the American capitol of romance. The place where couples flock to tie the knot at a drive-thru wedding chapel and spend the night like royalty in a luxury suite. If you ask anyone to describe Las Vegas, chances are Live Music (they way you and I define it) will be an afterthought to the usual Vegas cliche’s.

Enter Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas. Easily the most incredible music venue in Sin City, it manages to tie together every Vegas characteristic while making live music the center of it all. Yes, you certainly will see a dancing Elvis too.

 

So what brought me to Brooklyn Bowl Vegas, when I have a Brooklyn Bowl in my own neighborhood here in NY? The String Cheese Incident on Valentine’s Day weekend. Need I say more? Let me walk you through through the ridiculousness of night two and three of the ‘Sin City Incidents’ the three night Vegas run that capped the bands Winter Carnival Tour.

 

The energy of Saturday’s Valentine’s show was indescribable. Love was in the air. Above a sea of anticipation and warm embraces, Cheese took the stage and started the festivities appropriately with a soul stirring “Shine.” Kyle Hollingsworth then quickly took control destroying the boards in “Lost” which segued into his own “Boo Boo’s Pik-A-Nik.” Perhaps the perfect melody for the Valentine’s couples in the crowd; the band delivered a smooth romantic cover of Bob Marley’s “Could you be Loved.”

 

Set two starts, and only DJ Logic is on the stage with two decks, setting a tone.. but where’s Cheese? Not to worry… Michael Travis and Jason Hann entered soon after to accompany Logic on a slick little intro jam, before the rest of the band sauntered on stage to drop into a happy energetic “Let’s Go Outside.” Michael Kang made first use of his violin prowess in a face-melting psychedelic “Rivertrance.” Closing the set with a Rollover that has evolved immensely since its early days, Cheese had many hearts caught on the line in this sea of love. Reeling those hearts in, the band finished appropriately with a “Las Vegas” and Tom Jones cover of “It’s Not Unusual.” As expected, there were people all over the floor doing the “Carlton Dance” from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Happy Valentine’s Day, sheeesh!

 

Alright already with the love fest… Night 3 of Sin City Incidents was about getting down to business. Opening with a classic, the band threw down a more than 12 minute long “Search,” followed by an even longer “Black Clouds.” The folk-hokey jam openers had the crowd warm and feeling good, however it was mood change time. By that, I mean the tone transitioned to a darker psychedelic jam dance diesel freight train…”Betray the Dark,” and the eastern influenced “Bollymunster,” led right into the high energy dance party that was “On the Road.” Jamming into a short interlude of the Elvis Presley classic “Viva Las Vegas,” the band came back into “On the Road” to cap the set.

 

After what they had just heard in set one, fans were antsy for set two to get underway, to say the least. So when SCI jumped into “Desert Dawn” to open set two, everyone was glad they kept their dancing shoes laced tight. Happy vibes turned to full tilt rage; as the band jumped into a 17 minute “Valley of the Jig,” which threw their collective souls on a roller coaster from hoe down to psychedelia, and then back down to earth for a happy Island-esque “Cant Wait for Another.”

Cheese then cleared the palettes of salivating fans with a very well placed Rolling Stones cover of “Sympathy for The Devil.” So now it was coming down to the end of this fantasy run of SCI in Vegas, and the band delivered what may be the best string of songs all weekend. A funky “Dirk” primed the crowd with an intense and ominous energy…the amazing beginning to an obvious outcome. Tackling “Jellyfish” with a fierceness, the band was just on a mission. I do not believe any one person in the room had two feet on the ground. Floating in air, we all danced our asses off.

Once in the state of hypnosis, Cheese delivered the knockout blow. Rosie hits….crowd goes wild. Rosie suddenly melts into a Vegas themed shot of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” and crowd goes ballistic! Coming back to earth, the band eased back into Rosie, and finished the set with an energy that can not be described with words. Only the second guest of the run, Mike Remple of Lotus, joined SCI for the encore to rip up a jet fueled version of “Galactic.” Our Valentine’s weekend heroes… or maybe “Cupids” (depending on how your weekend went), closed the run with “Restless Wind.” It was the house lights that followed that reminded everyone in the Bowl that this may have been just a dream.

 

The String Cheese Incident was like an intoxicating love potion… I fell in love with a band that I already loved. I fell in love with a venue, and community, that mirrored my own in Brooklyn, NY. To be honest there was so, so, so, much more love to be spoken about… True to Vegas lore, there was debauchery, buffets, Denny’s, Elvis, and all the other things…but yeah, sometimes “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” sure does holds true. L4LM is happy to give you the bare essential details, but the Cheese gossip in Vegas will surely stay in Vegas… so don’t miss out on it next time!

– Andre Reddy

[photos courtesy of Courtney Harrington]

 

Saturday, Febuary 14th, 2015
Set One: Shine, Lost > Boo Boo’s Pik-A-Nik > Mouna Bowa > Could You Be Loved, Sirens, Colorado Bluebird Sky

Set Two: Let’s Go Outside*, It Is What It Is > Rivertrance, Hotel Window, Born On the Wrong Planet > Way Back Home > Rollover

Encore: Las Vegas > It’s Not Unusual > Las Vegas

 * – W/ DJ Logic

Sunday, Febuary 15th, 2015
Set One: Search > Black Clouds, Sometimes a River, Betray the Dark, BollyMunster, Round the Wheel > On the Road > Viva Las Vegas > On the Road

Set Two: Desert Dawn, Valley of the Jig, Can’t Wait Another Day, Sympathy For the Devil, So Far From Home, Dirk, Jellyfish, Rosie > Get Lucky > Rosie

Encore: Galactic* > Restless Wind

* – with Mike Rempel from Lotus on guitar