The third and final night of The String Cheese Incident‘s 3-night Red Rocks Amphitheatre run proved once again the saying ‘Never Miss A Sunday Show’ to be completely true. As if Friday and Saturday (the band’s 29th and 30th Red Rocks shows) weren’t more than enough to fill your good vibes meter, the Colorado sextet came out swinging from the very first note. An inspiring set from Nahko and Medicine for the People provided the perfect lead-in to Cheese’s first of two headlining sets.

By the time Cheese came out, the place was teetering on the edge of blissfulness and unsanity (yes, you read that correctly). Sunday night….Cheese….Red Rocks….This Must Be The Place. “Close Your Eyes” led into a well-played “So Far From Home.” And while the lyrics to the latter see our wanderer dreaming of one day returning home (“I’m so far from home, damn so far from home, And all alone”), the collective feeling in the majestic amphitheatre couldn’t have felt more like home and exactly the place where we were all meant to be on this glorious night. “Joyful Sound” segued perfectly into a most welcome “Miss Brown’s Teahouse.” “Bollymunster” was like being transferred from Colorado to India, as all of us sudden everyone in attendance became expert Bhangra dancers, as we turned the light bulbs at a Punjabi harvest celebration.

A second set opener of “Howard” proved to be one of several highlights of the night, as the song saw Cheese jam into a cover of Rush‘s “Tom Sawyer” back into “Howard.” “Sirens” was super dubbed down with those hints of calypso that the band has a knack for eloquently slipping into their song catalog, and saw Keith Mosely shine on vocals. The “Beautiful” played on this night couldn’t be described more perfectly if one tried, as it simply was beautiful, and out of that came a set-closer of “Colorado Bluebird Sky” which saw the energy level explode. It is a good thing that there was only plenty of sky above us, because a roof would have most definitely seen damage.

An encore that begins with “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” is always a good one, as the Talking Heads cover has become a song that Cheese has truly made their own. And if that wasn’t enough, we got a “Jellyfish” afterwards….and an epic one at that, with the band clearly connecting on all levels. As the band had some more left into the tank, and wanted to put more of a stamp on the night, a cover of Grateful Dead staple “I Know You Rider” brought the third and final night of the SCI’s Red Rocks run to a close in spectacular fashion.

String Cheese Incident Plays Phish, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Brings Out Special Guests At Red Rocks

With a New Year’s run announced, and a confirmation of soon-to-come Fall dates, the boys in Cheese are back in the saddle and playing at a level that is about as high as it’s ever been. Looks like there are many more good times around the bend.

The String Cheese Incident Red Rocks Setlist 7/26/15

SET 1: Close Your Eyes > Far From Home, Blue Bossa, Water, Joyful Sound > Miss Brown’s Teahouse > Bollymunster

SET 2: Howard > Tom Sawyer > Howard, Stop Drop Roll, County Road Blues, Sirens, Don’t Say > Beautiful > Colorado Bluebird Sky

ENCORE: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) > Jellyfish > I Know You Rider

[via Friends Of Cheese]

Photos by Nicholas Stock