On Friday, July 19th, The String Cheese Incident opened up their annual three-night run at Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The show marked SCI’s 40th time playing at the beloved outdoor amphitheater. Funk/jazz guitarist Cory Wong and his band handled the evening’s opening duties, offering up a funk-filled dance party chock-full of his flavorful guitar licks.
As the band walked onstage, Bill Nershi stepped up to the mic and exclaimed, “I remember walking down on this stage with my family and thinking this is where I’ll stand when String Cheese plays here. Tonight is our 40th show at Red Rocks!” The String Cheese Incident opened up their first set with a lengthy “Little Hands”, highlighted by some delicate interplay between Michael Kang and Kyle Hollingsworth. “Little Hands” smoothly flowed into “Mouna Bowa”, giving Kang a chance to flex his chops on the fiddle. Nershi swapped out his acoustic guitar for an electric as the band moved forward with a cover of The Band’s “Ophelia”, with Keith Moseley handling the vocal lead.
Following an explosive “Close Your Eyes”, SCI invited up Cory Wong, along with his keyboardist Kevin Gastonguay and percussionist Peter Janjic, to add some extra layers of funk on “Freedom Jazz Dance”. With Moseley hammering away on the bass, Kang and Wong traded off some red-hot licks. The band moved back into their regular six-piece configuration to close out the first set with a pairing of “Vertigo” into “Tinder Box”.
Following a brief setbreak, The String Cheese Incident returned with Wong and his full band to open up their second set with a cover of Steve Wonder‘s “I Wish”, led by Kang on vocals. The sextet moved forward with solid takes on “Bollymunster” and “Black Clouds” before Nershi slowed things down with a tender “Windy Mountain”. “Windy Mountain” crashed into “Illegal”, a newer tune out of the SCI Sound Labwritten by Michael Travis. Following “Illegal”, Hollingsworth led his bandmates through “Can’t Wait Another Day” before the band brought their set to a close with “Texas”. SCI returned to deliver a lone encore of Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On”, leaving the hometown crowd with high hopes for the remainder of the weekend run.
Luckily for fans, SCI has shared pro-shot video of “Windy Mountain” from Red Rocks, which you can enjoy below:
The String Cheese Incident – “Windy Mountain” [Pro-Shot]
[Video: The String Cheese Incident]
Next up for SCI is a three-night run at Eugene, OR’s Cuthbert Amphitheater on September 27th-29th. The band will then head to the Bay Area for a pair of two-night runs at San Francisco’s Fillmore (10/2 & 10/3) and Oakland’s Fox Theatre (10/4 & 10/5). Cheese will also offer up three-night runs at Austin, TX’s Stubb’s on October 31st-November 2nd and Chicago, IL’s Auditorium Theatre on November 7th-9th. The band will perform their final concerts of 2019 at Denver, CO’s new Mission Ballroom on Friday and Saturday, November 29th and 30th.
For a full list of the band’s upcoming tour dates, ticketing, and more information, head to The String Cheese Incident’s website.
Setlist: The String Cheese Incident | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO | 7/19/19
Set One: Little Hands > Mouna Bowa, Ophelia, Close Your Eyes, Freedom Jazz Dance* > Vertigo > Tinder Box
Set Two: I Wish^, Bollymunster, Black Clouds, Windy Mountain > Illegal > Can’t Wait Another Day > Texas
Encore: Ramble On
* w/ Cory Wong on guitar, Kevin Gastonguay on keys, Peter Janjic on percussion
^ w/ Cory Wong full band and horns