The String Cheese Incident created an onstage psychedelic wonderland for the band’s traditional “Whole Shebang” set as part of its annual Suwannee Hulaween Music Festival just outside of Live Oak, Florida. The band couldn’t have picked a more magical place to present their wildly inspired, Wizard Of Oz-esque take on some of its most classic tunes than the already mystical Spirit Of The Suwannee Music Park. In what is sure to go down as one of their most legendary productions ever, Cheese showed just how creative the band and its partners-in-crime can be in crafting musical “Incidents” by taking Hula attendees beyond the boundaries of simple themed cover sets and into the realm of pure imagination.

We’ll get to the wild journey of “HowWeird the Pig” and “Pepe the Skunk” as quickly as possible, but as remarkable and joy-filled as that last portion of Saturday’s presentation was, it was the third set of three. String Cheese started its musical day in the bright sunshine, with guitarist Bill Nershi noting that the heat and sun were both nearing their end for the day.

The first set was a by-the-numbers affair, though the double duty of drummer Michael Travis on vocals for the Paul Simon cover “Late In The Evening” and his work with percussion-partner-in-crime Jason Hann during the drum solo section were highlights of the opening set of the day.

The second set started off with a lengthy tease of The Beatles‘ “Here Comes The Sun”. After a sonic shakedown with “Hi Ho No Show”, Cheese made the remained of the second set a nonstop, toe-tapping humdinger of a time, flowing from “Close Your Eyes” into “Shantytown” before riding an improvisational wave into “Lets Go Outside”, and then finally letting “Restless Wind” blow them into the set-closing “Just One Story”.

Quickly clearing out to ready themselves for the highly anticipated themed set, the members of String Cheese vanished as the crowd dispersed before returning and packing back in, reinforced and filling the great lawn to near maximum capacity. String Cheese re-emerged to the now brightly lit stage dressed colorfully but less theatrically elaborate than they might have been in past Hulaween Saturday night themed sets.

Meanwhile, the stage itself had been reimagined with a huge, draped curtain emblazoned with a big brightly lit message reading, “How Weird.” Michael Kang, by way of introduction to the tale, took to the mic and spoke of seminal event like String Cheese’s recent 30-year anniversary and his more personal encounter some 20 years ago with a particularly powerful handful of mushrooms.

Launching into an urgent, crunchy version of their seminal “Howard”, Cheese followed the lead of Kyle Hollingsworth’s organs and the insistent, breakneck pace instituted by Travis and Hann. As Kang began the lyrical journey, the curtains parted and revealed a blue sky with rows of corn and, looming behind them center-stage, a towering, red and yellow vertically striped hot air balloon. As the song progressed, two costumed characters made their way to the front of the stage.

One wore a comfy-looking piglet ensemble. The other was clad in a more sleek, black outfit with a lengthy black and white skunks tail. Pepe Le Pew the skunk (a character mentioned in the lyrics of “Howard”) gifted HowWeird (a play on the song’s titular protagonist) a cauldron-shaped bag and a comically oversized cartoon-y mushroom, as described in the song. The pair then cavorted and looped around stage left and entered the waiting balloon basket to begin their journey.

A female off-stage narration began, full of whimsy and delightful endearing intonations, about the duo’s wish to have “an adventure.” As the music played, the pair hammed it up in the balloon, swaying, waving, and even recreating Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s iconic embrace from The Titanic. Wild storm clouds and colorful pinwheels swirled behind them before the basket lowered them back to a now bizarrely lit, alien plant-filled backdrop as the band dropped a smooth transition to “Born On The Wrong Planet”.

After playfully exploring the now altered state of the stage, the narrator returned as the nonstop music dipped low and posed the question, “Where are ALL the people?” As Cheese sonically surged  into “Come As You Are”, buoyed by the fierce propelling percussion work of Hann, the fantasy duo and band were joined by a coterie of brightly clad hula hoopers. The entire front of the stage was lined with a bizarre assortment of impressively gyrating performers before they cleared back to the left and right behind the band, continuing their dancing.

Twinkling keys gave way to the familiar strains of “Mrs. Brown’s Tea House”. The dancers departed and HowWeird and Pepe each enjoyed a large glass of what looked like iced tea. As the pair drank and the song progressed, a giant mushroom with an intricately lit doorway inflated, flanked by smaller mushroom inflatables to either side.

From the mushroom’s doorway emerged a costumed character clearly meant to resemble the titular “Mrs. Brown”, who, after a little solo dancing of her own, joined HowWeird and Pepe to boogie out the rest of the tune. The narrator returned and spoke of how overwhelmed HowWeird and Pepe were at the welcoming sense of love and community. Cheese meanwhile flowed into “Best Feeling”, a tune born out of a collaboration with Keller Williams.

By far the biggest break in reality started as the tune’s whimsical day dream rung out. Giant octopi, bizarre fish, and stylized birds emerged as their lyrical cues dropped, accompanied by extended percussion breaks from Hann. Kang continued to artfully chime in, wailing the unforgettable leads on his mandoblaster while Hollingsworth utilized his keyboard’s vocoder to great effect.

The narrator spoke of the rise of a giant, shadowy figure as a multi-story masked slowly appeared behind the band, with curtain-draped outstretched arms that reached each side of the stage. Bassist Keith Moseley led String Cheese through slightly altered lyrics for a particularly well-timed “Joyful Sound”. Referring to the spawning character as “The Guru”, the narrator spoke of HowWeird and Pepe’s near-telepathic understanding of the gigantic figure. The Guru had a vital, three-part message to impart.

1. We are ALL connected by a single “String” of cosmic energy, so act accordingly.

2. Remember to have fun. Live in levity. It’s okay to be “Cheese-y” and…

3. Live IN the moment…and make EVERY moment an “Incident!”

At that point, “Rosie” took shape from the swirling jam Cheese had been laying down, with the tune’s disco beat driving hard and true as a huge web, apparently representing the cosmic connection between us all, appeared following the Guru’s departure. Kang even got in on the fun, momentarily laying down his guitar and joining How Weird and Pepe for a short, choreographed dance that had the multi-instrumentalist smiling from ear to ear.

With time winding down, The String Cheese Incident broke into one of its best recent tunes, “Trip The Light Fantastic”, with lasers and pulsing five-story-high stage lights rolling back and forth in deep rows and waves. The stage refilled with characters who had appeared throughout the production to wish How Weird and Pepe a safe journey home, lessons learned and adventure had, as musically everything ratcheted up a notch before transitioning back to “Howard”.

The smiling and dancing continued as the song crescendoed and fireworks filled the sky, with flying pig-shaped inflatables bouncing above the crowd. Nershi, voice thick with emotion, thanked the deafening crowd and wished them a “Happy Hula” before retiring with his musical brothers.

As the audience dispersed to various other stages and The String Cheese Incident went to prepare themselves for the sure to be emotional appearance of Bob Weir for Sunday’s big Grateful Dead show, it was, as always, a bit of a let down to return to reality. That said, one would hope the message of The Guru resounded in the hearts and souls of all in earshot, and spread from those lucky enough to hear it to others at the fest.

In a world so full of division, it’s truly reassuring to see a band take such time and effort to put this positive message out to fans at all, much less in such a truly insured way. Let’s hope it gets heard by everyone who needs to hear it as soon as possible. The world could always use a little more compassion, more love, and, of course, more Cheese!

The String Cheese Incident – “On the Road”, “Lost” – 10/26/24

Setlist: The String Cheese Incident | Suwannee Hulaween | Live Oak, FL | 10/26/24

Set 1: On the Road, Lost > Black Clouds, Eventually, Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) > Drums > It Is What It Is > Rivertrance

Set 2: Comes the Sun (The Beatles), Hi Ho No Show, Close Your Eyes > Shantytown > Lets Go Outside > Restless Wind  > Just One Story

Set 3: Howard > Born on the Wrong Planet, Come As You Are, Miss Brown’s Teahouse (w/Somewhere Over the Rainbow tease), Best Feeling, Joyful Sound, Rosie, Trip the Light Fantastic > Howard (w/fireworks)