There a few events more quintessentially “Colorado” than The String Cheese Incident’s almost annual run at the renowned Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. Saturday, on a brilliant and warm summer night, String Cheese played a sold-out show for the ages, chock-full of mind-bending jam sandwiches and deep improvisation.

The Main Squeeze opened up the night with their signature blend of heavy rock and soul music. A perfectly executed cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” was a highlight of the set as guitarist Max Newman dug deep before eventually bringing it all back to the main riff. Following a couple more tunes, lead singer Corey Frye thanked the crowd for coming out for some “Cheese and Squeeze” before handing the stage over to the longtime Colorado residents.

Nearing the end of their home-state run and coming off of a fiery Friday night show, the band took no time getting down to business, busting out the fan-favorite “Miss Brown’s Teahouse” to open the first set. Typically loose and groovy, the boys worked through the different sections of the song, with guitarists Billy Nershi and Michael Kang each taking a handful smart, concise solos. Following “Betray the Dark”, the opening bass licks to Weather Report’s “Birdland” rippled across the audience. A true jazz fusion standard, the song provides ample material for each and every band member to work with. From drummer Michael Travis’ steady snare/hi-hat beat in the opening passage to Kang’s arcing guitar lines and keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth’s cool, breezy piano later on, there was truly never a dull moment in the song.

But the band wasn’t stopping there. A buttery segue dropped right into the opening guitar lines of Pink Floyd’s “Fearless” from their 1971 album Meddle. “Fearless” morphed through some gritty funk sections and then turned into a much-needed, Nershi-led bluegrass intermission of “Freight Train Boogie” and “Wheel Hoss”, all before slipping right back into the end of “Birdland”. Billy then sang another tune, “Big Shoes”, featuring an epic talk box solo from Kyle. Hollingsworth then finished things off with the irresistibly danceable String Cheese classic, “Rosie”, which finally made its first studio appearance on their 2014 album, Song in My Head. As always, the song oozed with keyboard funk and the crowd got down in proper fashion to close out the first set.

Following a brief set break, the band returned to the stage with friend and recent collaborator, vocalist Ruby Chase. The group opened the set with a pair of new songs from the SCI Sound Lab, “The Other Side” and “The Big Reveal” For the latter, Kyle gave a heartfelt introduction, explaining his early experiences at Grateful Dead shows at RFK Stadium and the realization that it was his kind of community, his kind of people, and his kind of music. With beautiful arcs and huge major key jams, the song was reminiscent of some timeless, older String Cheese songs and seemed well-received by fans both old and new.

Bassist Keith Moseley then took his hand at leading the group, playing a perfect rendition of “Joyful Sound”. The bass-driven tune segued into “Rumble”, followed by the fairly grassy “Love Is Like a Train”. Then, slowly—almost magically—the group moved right into the Talking Heads’ “Nothing But Flowers”. The polyrhythmic feel of the rare cover fits perfectly into the String Cheese canon, while also giving percussionist Jason Hann a great framework within which to play and solo. Nevertheless, with time to spare and the feeling that something big was still missing, the band burst out of a short break between songs with the opening notes of “Desert Dawn”. Flawlessly executing the opening part of the tune, they dropped into the first improvised section with a steady sense of urgency. The feeling that this was going to be a big one was palpable. The jam opened up into an airy space before working into a thick, crunchy groove led by Hann and Travis. Kang then pushed the band on with a wonderfully watery guitar tone, dropping in John Coltrane’s “Impressions” before coming back around to the closing chorus of “Desert Dawn” The massive, exploratory take was truly one to remember and, naturally, closed the second set.

Billy Nershi returned to the stage before the encore, lovingly and graciously thanking the band’s crew, the promoters, and all the incredible people who make live music possible. Of course, a group hoot (or two) were called for before Billy welcomed out The Main Squeeze and Ruby Chase once more for a blistering cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”.

The String Cheese Incident finishes their Colorado run tonight at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with support from Rising Appalachia. For a full list of upcoming String Cheese Incident dates, head to the band’s website.

Below, you can view a beautiful gallery of photos from SCI’s Saturday night show at Red Rocks via photographer John Verwey.

Setlist: The String Cheese Incident | Red Rocks | Morrison, CO | 7/21/18

Set One: Miss Brown’s Teahouse, Betray The Dark, Birdland > Fearless > Freight Train Boogie > Wheel Hoss > Birdland, Big Shoes, Rosie

Set Two: The Other Side [1], The Big Reveal, Joyful Sound > Rumble, Love Is Like A Train > Nothing But Flowers, Desert Dawn > Impressions > Desert Dawn

Encore: Kashmir [2]

Notes: 1 with Ruby Chase, 2 with Ruby Chase and The Main Squeeze