The String Cheese Incident

"First of all I want to thank the OTR crew for making these NY incidents available online. It was a great feeling to get home from the New Years run and be able to download the shows right away. The Second Night! Wow! Although SCI started things off with a slow opener (Joyful Sound) like the first night, things picked up as we went along. Highlights of the first set was a great Barstool, a one of the great subtle songs SCI is known for. Shine is always good hear. Lonesome fiddle blues was the first SCI jam I fell in love with and remember listening to it OVER and OVER until my 1997 "A String Cheese Incident" cd was completely scratched and unsalvageable. However I must say that the hype behind Garaj Mahal playing with SCI was, well hype. I remember MLT from 4/25/03 with Fareed Haque (i attended this incident as well) and the jamming seemed a little confused and not as cohesive. This is the feeling I get when listening to LFB from this show. I think Garaj Mahal`s, particularly Fareeds style is a little to different from SCI`s. And this claim is not unsubstantiated, I have seen Garaj Mahal live and they ARE quite different, not to downplay the amazing musicianship of fareed or the other members of Garaj Mahal. The second set was a vast improvement with great songs like Howard, Boo Boo`s Pikanik, a great Magic Carpet Ride and a wonderful Smile (a personal favorite). The encore was incredible: a combination of Another Night (a great bluegrass tune that I had not previously heard) and Born on the Wrong Planet! VINTAGE STRING CHEESE. I got a taste of how the boys would sound as if they were in the Depot in `93. Thanks for a great night string cheese! Keep on keepin on."

"This was a great show. I hadn`t seen the guys in awhile. But they were very much so on. And the fact that they were so in stride in such an awesome venue really made this a great experience. I don`t know what the other shows on the run were like, but I am happy I at least was able to see this nite. "

"Out of the three shows, I think that this is definitely the best show. (Although, the first set of the third night is certainly the best set of the run.) The boys were tight and the jams and segues were right on. The LFB with Garaj Mahal was off the hook...20 minutes of sickness. If you did the New Years` run, you`ll want all three, otherwise, all-in-all, have to say this is the best show of the run."