Last night, the String Cheese Incident played their first of two shows at RIDE Festival in Telluride, CO, and their first of a seven-show Colorado run. Telluride has a very rich history and special relationship with bluegrass music, as well as with the String Cheese Incident. SCI started off playing Telluride’s The Depot and Fly Me To The Moon Saloon early in their career before transitioning to bigger stages such as the Sheridan Opera House and Telluride Bluegrass Festival‘s main stage. Last night, the barefoot boys invited rocker Sheryl Crow onstage last night to lend a hand on an Allman Brothers Band tune.

String Cheese Incident got the night started off with the Kyle Hollingsworth-led “Let’s Go Outside”, as the six-piece got comfortable and loose right out of the gates. A massive “Little Hands” came next, with Cheese sprinkling a tease of Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” into the mix. After a slight pause, guitarist Bill Nershi dropped into the bluegrass instrumental “Indian Creek”, highlighted by Michael Kang tearing it up on the fiddle. Cheese was sounding confident and collected despite a very light touring year so far in 2018.

The highlight of the evening came next, as Sheryl Crow was invited up onstage to assist SCI on a cover of the Allman Brother Band’s “Midnight Rider”. Crow played a set earlier in the evening, and put the perfect touch on the classic Gregg Allman tune, leading on vocals and mesmerizing the blissed-out Telluride crowd.

String Cheese Incident w/ Sheryl Crow – “Midnight Rider”

[Video: Ride Festival Facebook]

Switching things up, Cheese jumped into “The Big Reveal”, a new single they released earlier this year from the SCI Sound Lab. A sweet “Search” came next, before the band transitioned into “Cottonmouth”> “Hi Ho No Show”, highlighting the wide swath of different genres and styles that they’ve been touching on over the years. Despite the show being a one-set occasion, Cheese kept things flowing smoothly all night, bringing the set to a close with “Rollover”> “Colliding”, a perfectly placed segue for a one-set festival show. String Cheese Incident came back out for an encore after a brief break offstage, covering Bob Dylan‘s “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”, a tune that has been in regular rotation in the SCI catalog over recent years.

The String Cheese Incident returns to the Ride Festival tonight for their second show of the weekend before heading North for shows at the newly renovated Dillon Amphitheater in Dillon, Colorado. Ticketing information for the String Cheese Incident’s upcoming shows can be found here.

Setlist: String Cheese Incident | Ride Festival | Telluride, CO | 7/14/18

Set: Let’s Go Outside, Little Hands, Indian Creek, Midnight Rider*, The Big Reveal> Search, Cottonmouth> Hi Ho No Show, Rollover> Colliding

Encore: Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues

* w/ Sheryl Crow