The String Cheese Incident

"I`m a 53 year-old middle school English teacher and long-time concert taper who got turned on to the Cheese by my buddy Mike back in `01. After having been to 176 Grateful Dead shows, I didn`t think anything else would ever come close. Well, between `01 and this Beacon run I got to see 20 Cheese shows, nine of them in New York City. These Beacon shows were incredibly rich, spontaneous and mostly joyful, although there was the awareness that this may be it. As the boys played the reprise to Way Back Home, ending their triumphant four-night run, I whispered a thank you... for giving me back my passion for a band. God bless you guys. I`m a fan for life. "

"I`ve been a huge fan ever since I stumbled upon the band doing a non-showcase happy hour show in Austin during SXSW in March of `97. It will be hard to find a new favorite live band that even comes close to SCI. Thanks for the many years of vibes and energy, and I wish the best to all the members as they venture off into new projects and creativity. Even though they didn`t play some of the songs I wanted to see, they made the trip worth it from NC. Peace"

"I meant to say violin in stead of mandolin in the middle of my review"

"very nice review. i couldnt have said it better myself. KYLE KYLE KYLE!!!!!"

"Cheers to Nershi!!! I just want to start by saying that he will never be replaced musically and although I wish nothing more than to hear the band continue on, his spot in cheese eternity can never be filled. One thing he will be..... is missed. I think there is a lot of amazing chemistry between Kang and Kyle to continue on without the acoustic sound melodically but soo many songs are lost because of Nershi`s absence. I don`t need to list them because A) they go on forever and B) any true cheese fan already knows. I understand that he can no longer aspire to other dreams and wishes to move his career into a personal realm of satisfaction and not the combination of 5 now 6 (JHamm) members vision of what `their band` should sound like. That being said I went to friday and saturday night and those shocks F* Rocked my F* shoes off. I have never heard the band that energized and pumped up about jamming their songs out. Texas>Footprints>Texas w/ krasno was off the chain I found myself almost passing out from exhaustion dancing. I had never heard `Dont Say` and was extremly pumped about that occurance. Rivertrance was TIGHT, the groove in the pocket the whole time including the ultra hyped ending which Kang nailed as always. One of my favorites of the two shows was definetly Desert Dawn>VOTJ>Dawn. I thought Kang completely tore those up and shredded face. On that note Kang was ON TOP OF HIS GAME these two shows. He absolutely slayed these two nights. His solos blew my mind. Epic. that is the only word that I can use to describe his presence in all of the songs. He hit notes and volumes that could not be contained by Beacon. His solos were suitable for stadiums S.T.A.D.I.U.M.S. that takes nothing away from Beacon being an awsome venue though. The acoustic mini set in the begining of the second night was great because they had played minimal bluegrass/acoustic the first night and i wanted to have the full cheese experience on my last two shows. Furthermore to that point although Kang was electrically electricfying I could have used more of his mandolin. Search was awsome as was Rivertrance but the real kicker for me was Little Hands. The jam at the end of that song was face melting. Everytime I thought they had reached the pinnacle of the energy in the song it got crazier and more mind blowing. I love that song and I thought it was great that Kang and Nershi sang the song together because although I could be wrong I believe the duo had musical tension contributing to Bills decision to leave. The encore`s both nights where awsome. The duel encore was sweet with a pretty good restless followed by a brilliant Shaking the tree. I love that song too. The best was definetly Landsend>BAJ>Glory Chords> and Way back home. I was so tired at that point from dancing and grooving the whole night but when they brought it back in with kyle on Way Back Home I got crazy. I love kyle he is the music man of the group and really knows how to build solos but his techniques and fills are soo tastefull. He deserves as much credit and praise as ne one in Cheese. ROCK ON KYLE. In conclusion the ending of the Era of String Cheese Incident is sad and happy. I love this band and the rollercoasters they have taken me on. Every member of the band is an awsome musician and although I have never met them personally I know they are outstanding people judged on the music they play. Everything must end and "what a long strange trips its been." To the guys of cheese: Thank you soo much for everything you have given to your fans most specifically the music you have played. You will be missed but never forgoten. The best of luck to all you and from all your fans THANK YOU!!!!! I will remember the String Cheese Incident as one of my favorite bands of all time. That is what you were once but it`s what you`ll forever be to me and thousands of ur fans. Viva la Queso "

"One of the best eye know whys... if you want a good one check out the one from fall 06 tour, cant think of it off the daTE OFF the top of my head but its eye know why> sand dollar>up the canyon>sand dollar... that one is the greatest... sick ass bass solo from keith... other than that.... best big shoes I have ever heard... even beeter than the one from osaka japan on 9-30-05.... that was is sick as hell.... but this is much better... really seems emotional in the keith solo on the syn.... man o man... what a run in NYC"

"Using live cheese to pick up women? Thats a new all time low for this website. This is Easily the best of the 4 nights and the best EYe Know Why Period!"

"Also a good night, not as good as night 3 but still a good show overall. Cant wait for the rest of the tour. And if you 2 girls from conneticut from the front right read this post me some contact info please. I wanna talk to you again"

"i was more than happy to see the boys for 4 nights, and i thought they were on fire. but even if they didnt play everything that I wanted to hear, i still would have been happy to be there. and for all the people who didnt get to go, it is unfair to them to hear some of you bitching about how you didnt hear YOUR favorites when they heard nothing. leave your negative critisism to yourselves and enjoy it while you can. highlights were the whole acoustic set (especially chili dawg), strawberry fields, rivertrance>howard, and way back home to end the run was perfect, even if the encore didnt last 30 minutes. cant wait to see you all in red rocks"

"This will likely be my last show ever, since they`re quitting. Unfortunately the setlist fell short of what I hoped it would be. The acousitc mini-set was wonderful, with `Chili Dawg` being my favorite part of the whole show. The 45th of November/Eye Know Why/Everybody Knows cluster, however, was not what I paid to see. How can any self-respecting SCI fan like `Everybody Knows?` It is like bad, radio-friendly country-pop. NO THANKS. `Mouna Bowa` was nice, as usual, and I don`t mind IIWII. `Big Shoes` isn`t one of my favorites, but Kyle made it worth it when he synth`d it up big time. `Pretty Polly`: no thanks. `Just One Story`: no thanks. To me, the only highlight of the 2nd set was `Strawberry Fields.` A standard `Howard` is always fun, but I knew it was going to be the set-closer and it couldn`t redeem what had happened already. And who can argue with a `Lands End` encore? I had fun - they sounded great and the venue was very cool. The problem was ALL THE NEW SONGS that don`t measure up to classix like SHINE, WATER, COME AS YOU ARE, PIRATES, BIG MON, etc. Let`s be honest. But i did download the acoustic tracks, MOUNA BOWA and SFF. Check out `Chili Dawg!`"

"Pixie Dust and Moonshine-Apparently you did not read my post close enough. I said that I enjoyed the four nights of music. Some were better than others but I was glad just to have been there for all of them and that does not mean that any were bad. Please keep your negative thoughts to yourself. Michael "

"waaah waahh waaaah! "this is the goodbye I get" Get over it dude! Who is happy about billy leaving? I know I`m not. I think it`s even weaker that the band may quit because of billy. You need to man up, and SCI needs to man up. I can`t wait for the greek show on sat. night, but no way in hell am I paying 50 bucks for day 2. I`ll find a miracle and won`t care what they play."

"Got to say, I really don`t know how anybody can be disappointed with the Beacon shows - first, the band still has a bunch of shows to go and I`m sure they want to make them each shows to remember. Now, as to NY, for $50 bucks, I don`t think you can find a much more enjoyable and consistently solid, diverse eight sets of music - we have been a night behind waiting for the download and then missed last night because the show was not up until quite late. Anyway, just about at end of show now and sure not disappointed - we say Cheers to the band for a great final four night stand in the Big Apple - rock on! We may just end up getting downloads of the whole rest of the tour with the way they are closing it out. Hey, what if they got Drew Emmitt to replace Bill? "

"As much as I enjoyed this show, I can`t disagree with Chris Barry and others. For the last four East coast shows EVER, I would have expected much different setlists. I am grateful for all the many years of fantastic shows,music and good times (these included)....thank you SCI...but boy, I sure could have used a farewell Jellyfish! "

"Sorry, not last 2 Reviews. the 2 before that, Mike & Chris BTS"

"The last 2 reviewers must have been at a different venue. The 10 people we were with have been seeing SCI for over 10 years & all loved it. Everyone I have spoken with loved it. Maybe they missed the memo that it was at the Beacon on Broadway in NYC & not on loser Island. Everyone else download it fast and listen closely. You`ll love It. Thanks for the weekend you ski bums. BTS Boone NC "

"Man What a good show, tons of energy, tons of jam. What more could anyone asked for. All I wanted was to hear Howard and I finally got it! Rivertrance was smokin and the BIG >IIWII was amazing as well. Only disapointed in the encore. Thought they would play at lest 30 minutes or so. But I would recomend this show for sure! SRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER! "

"It may have been the last NYC performance but who says they have to roll out all of the crowd favorites? For the last show it was nice to see something different. The music was tight, the jams were nice and they actually seemed like they wanted to be there. As if my opinion means anything-I thought that Saturday was the best night followed by Wednesday, Friday and then Thursday. I was lucky enough to be at all four shows-Thanks guys for all of the great shows."

"Now I know why Billy is leaving. The Last Night Ever in NYC and this is the setlist they come up with. No botwp, no water, no sweet melinda, no let it go, no these waves, no 100 year flood, no emma`s dream, and the list goes on and on. I have spent many years seeing them perform over 75 times and this is the goodbye I get? IT`S YOUR LAST SHOW IN NEW YORK CITY!!!!! WHY DON`T YOU PLAY LIKE IT. NYC has been great to the cheese and they dropped a big load on the Beacon theater for their last show ever!! I am so let down I could scream. I guess I can always go back and listen to 2000-2002 cheese and remember how good they can be."

"friday and saturday nights`s setlists should have been switched. the bluegrass opening was outstanding, but after that, they should have kept their laptops closed. 3 out of 5. "