On Friday, The String Cheese Incident shared pro-shot footage of their cover of The Rolling Stones‘ “Gimme Shelter” from Suwannee Hulaween 2018. The performance of the Let It Bleed classic comes from the band’s “Women of the Galaxy” themed set on October 27th, 2018.
Leading into the cover, Michael Kang introduces the theme for the evening, set to celebrate all of the women throughout the live music scene and beyond. Before launching into the song, however, Kang makes the understatement of the decade, “It’s been a crazy year, it’ll continue to be a crazy bunch of years to come.” This was then followed by a call for everyone to vote.
To kick off the “Women of the Galaxy” set, SCI welcomed Grammy-award winning singer Lisa Fischer to the stage to provide the thunderous female vocal accompaniment. Rather than just serving as the backup vocalist to the Mick Jagger lead, however, Fischer takes on full vocal duties and practically steals the show. While it does take the band a few minutes to actually get into the tune, once Bill Nershi finally drops into open E tuning and hits that iconic Keith Richards riff, it’s on.
However, this pro-shot footage is not merely just for the performance itself, but also for all of the onstage theatrics that the band employs for its beloved Hulaween sets. As the ensemble is starting to get into the tune, a cavalcade of performers don the stage to spin fire in front of the musicians as they play. Then, before you even realize it, there are trapeze artists doing acrobatics over the heads of the musicians.
Watch The String Cheese Incident cover The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” with Lisa Fischer at Hulaween 2018. Relive Hula 2018 with our coverage of the festival here.
The String Cheese Incident – “Gimme Shelter” (The Rolling Stones) – Live Oak, FL – 10/27/18
[Video: The String Cheese Incident]