String Cheese Incident started their Winter Carnival Tour in Seattle, and have been preforming three nights in each city. At Compose Yourself Magazine we had a chance to catch all three nights of their Chicago run at the incredible Aragon Ballroom, where each night was a beautiful and unique experience. The band played several songs from their newest album, Song in My Head, including Let’s Go Outside, Struggling Angel, Colorado Bluebird Sky, Song in My Head, Rosie, and Can’t Wait Another Day. The band was clearly full of energy and ready to give their all; SCI drummer Jason Hann tweeted “3 nights of SCI in Chi-own at the Aragon starting tonight. Not shy about bringing it!” and the same day, Kyle Hollingsworth, the band’s key player, posted to Facebook saying “Good morning, Chicago! So excited to be here!” Needless to say, energy was riding high by the time of the show! During any three night run with a specific band there always seems to be one night that truly hits home for the fans. While every night was a beautiful and magical experience String Cheese played an incredible set Thursday night, some would say they played for the true fans Thursday night. The set list was as follows:
Set 1: Outside Inside, Best Feeling > White Freightliner Blues, Mouna Bowa, Barstool, Way That It Goes, Joyful Sound > Come As You Are
Set 2: Colliding, Miss Brown’s Tea House, Pygmy Pony > Black Clouds > Master Blaster (Jammin’) > Impressions > Rollover
Encore: Bolly Munster.
They started suddenly with Outside Inside and played straight through to Mouna Bowa before they paused to say, “Good evening Chicago, how are you? Thanks so much for joining us tonight,” and then immediately dove into the sweet melodies of Monua Bowa, and then they brought back an oldie with Barstool off their Carnival ’99 album which features various live performances from 1999. The smooth melodic jams continued through the rest of Thursday night. The feature of Joyful Sound, a fan favorite, was a magical moment in the evening. They really showed off several styles of music, ranging from the very jammy Master Blaster to the Latin influences they played off of in Impressions, and of course the bluegrass undertones in Bolly Munster. The dedication String Cheese Incident puts into their music is evident through their live performances. You can often feel their response to the crowds energy through the way they play their music. Every note they play is filled with precision and passion.
They are ending their Winter Carnival Tour in Las Vegas, Nevada this weekend at the Brooklyn Bowl! They are referring to their Vegas shows as Sincidents. If you haven’t caught any leg of this amazing tour we at Compose Yourself Magazine suggest you make a pit stop and Vegas and get sinful with String Cheese!
