The String Cheese Incident

"What an incredible show! One of the best nights of music I've had the pleasure to witness. Disco Biscuits and STS9 were BOTH on in my ears and had me moving! I listen to those sets (auds from LMA) frequently and really enjoy them, and my friend and I were outrageously STOKED they were the openers for this! SCI threw down this day. I have so many of their shows, old and new, shows I've seen and shows I haven't, and I LOVE listening to this one over and over again. It really was fun and still sounds great nearly two years after the incident... There is an AUD source out there, I think it's Matt Varady's MBHO source, although the Harpin's Milab is great too, that sounds better than the rest, and I have to admit, even better than this SBD, as the vocals come through a little loud on this sbd, and you lose some of the magic of the energy apparent in the aud. Seriously, the energy in the crowd throughout the venue was amazing! Was anybody not dancing?! This show is the weekend highlight for me, blowing away the Sunday show, which in itself was also a hot show worth the download whether you were there or not. Saturday was more trancy (in theme with Bisco and STS9), and had a great light show, as it was later in the day. Sunday was an earlier show without the lights, and with a more bluegrass feel, befitting the openers HBR and RRE. WOW, for the whole weekend!"

"This was my first SCI show, and wow was my mind blown. Disco Biscuits were bleh and STS9 only really brought it with the last song (can`t for the life of me remember it, blame the dose) but I do remember lots of people getting down on the cement stairs/seating. The crowd this night seemed to me like one big happy dancing giant. Every song they played seemed like music from the Gods. From Mauna Bowa to Rain and I Wish, too many songs to point out but all of you who were there know. And the venue, jesus christ it was so beautiful and it was such a beautiful day, watching the sun go down behind the greek and the clocktower lighting up at night was just perfect. I`ll admit I never listened to SCI before seeing them, but I think that was the way it was supposed to happen. This day was so perfect no day can match. As I told many people I met that day "I went to Disneyland on the dose last weekend and this is the happiest place on earth". I only wish I could have gone up to the microphone and said Thank You to everyone who was there because you all attributed to the greatest day of my life. Sorry for the long comment."

"I have been to a lot of infamous cheese shows, but first night of berkeley was amazing!! Desert Dawn.. holy shit, I about died! The un-used spotlight stage in the back of the venue was by far the best seats in the house! Standing above a blanket of wonderful people with an unforgettable view of the stage and the San Francisco skyline lit up in the back was truly the best feeling in the world! Also, one of the highlights of my night was receiving FREE Hornings tickets for both days and a caravan to get up there (which were also fantastic shows). I wish I could go to the Classic.. I`m Missouri born and bred, but missing the show! What the fuck?! Can`t wait for Red Rocks! "

"STS9 wasn`t quite on their game but biscuits rocked it in the small time period they were given... and Cheese.... say what u want... this venue that night.... everything was money... great time!!!!!"

"Awsome show, very solid and I loved the energy. Something worth mentioning is the one line of Black Market that was teased in the Flying West Jam. It`s way slower than they usually play it but definately recognizable. I love cheese and I am even tearing up listen to it on my computer. I will miss you guys. "

"A great night of music. My brother and I got there just before SCI went on. Great timing although i was bummed he didn`t wanna get there before the other acts. From the get go SCI sounded great. Just really on point w/ one another. 3 songs in we found a nice spot on the overly slanted lawn and hung out there until our legs began to hurt. We were on our way down to get a quick bite before i heard I Know You Rider coming out of nowhere and immediately told my brother it`s time to head back. We found a nice spot on the side of the stage for the rest of the first set. 2nd set was just a lot of great loose jamming as someone had mentioned before. My brother and I got a great spot right behind some of the handicapped seating. We just made sure to let anyone who needed the seating go through. The only downfall of the 2nd set was no fault of the Cheese. Was surprised to hear technical difficulties. I thought it was coming from Kang since i heard a pop every time he strummed his mandolin. It seemed like they got it worked out at one point. But what always impresses is how they never missed a beat. They just kept goin as if nothing was wrong. They just filled in where ever it was needed. I also found it funny that the drummer (Name?) and Kang both at one point took their turns to run off the stage mid jam (Bathroom break?). Very cool show, great people there, even ran into an old roommate of mine from UCSB. Thank you SCI!! We`ll miss you!! I hope you come back eventually!"

"The technical difficulty that you speak of was a blown speaker I think. I heard it as well, and it sounded like a blown speaker to me, but could be wrong. "

"A great night of music, lots of loose, true improvsation. I thought the band gave billy center stage right from the get-go, he played strongly on Mouna Bowa, and uncharacteristically had the central (killer!) solo on I Wish. MLT had a unique Jam in it that was synchronized with the setting sun, followed indeed by drums. Rain was big enough to forget your own name. Second Set had some techincal glitches, especially during Looking Glass Billy`s guitar seemed to be crackling, but the band used the difficulty by creating a great jam that wandered into Desert Dawn (with great full jam with Disco Biscuits). There was also a lovely gentle sneaky jam between TWYDTTYD and Way Back Home. I enjoyed this show hugely."

"Bleh. Sorry for the gigantic paragraph, this system doesn`t recognize carriage breaks apparently. "

"The day started off with the Disco Biscuits. I had heard a lot of bad things about this band prior to hearing them for the first time this weekend. I have to say right off that I don`t know what all the negativity is about, they put on a solid performance. The only negative thing I can say at all is that their guitarist seems to get lost sometimes, but overall I thought they did a great job opening up the weekend. From there, we went on to Sound Tribe. True to form, these guys blew the place apart. Their performance was so excellent, in fact, that I was beginning to wonder if theirs would be the best act of the night. Not so. SCI`s performance this night is easily one of the best I`ve had the pleasure of witnessing. They left a smoking crater where the Greek used to be. For me, it ranks in my top three shows, rivaling the spectacular performance of the first night of Horning`s Hideout, 2005. The "Mouna Bowa" opener was a nice way to start off, but the real topic worth talking about is the feeling that SCI imparted on this song. The last several times I heard this song, I was kind of dissapointed; they have seemed down-tempo and uninspired. Not so here, this song was played solidly and with a passion I haven`t heard in years. "I Wish" was a pleasant surprise and really served to get the energy up in the venue. Songs this night that I normally don`t care for, "Sometimes A River" specifically, were played somewhat differently, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying a tune that I have never really enjoyed before. The real moment when I knew that this was going to be a spectacular show came during "MLT." The trancy jam that evolved from this staple SCI song was operatic in its sheer emotive power. It was flawless, and marks the first time in the hundreds and hundreds of concerts I`ve attended, SCI and otherwise, that I have been emotionally moved to tears due to the power of the music. Those are minutes in time I will never forget. One thing I noticed is that this setlist is missing the spectacular percussion duet done by Jason and Travis. It`s not written there, but it had to have been 5-8 minutes long. The end of the first set was awesome, and really set things up for set 2. The Bob Marley cover was totally unexpected and flawlessly executed. The "I Know You Rider" sandwich in which it was placed couldn`t have been more perfectly energetic. The second set was out and out superb. The only weak moment for me came during "Desert Dawn." Jon Gutwillig, while a very good guitar player, appeared to me to be completely outclassed by SCI on stage. He had trouble finding the jams and his guitar was uncomfortably silent for a painfully long time. He ended up getting his groove towards the end of the song, but appeared overwhelmed to me. The end of the show, the Jam>Way back home>Birdland>Best Feeling>Way Back Home set of segues was incredibly energetic. The "Search" encore was a nice way to end the show, allowing everyone to come down a bit from the energy of the night while at the same time playing an awesome tune. Once again, overall a great performance by SCI. It has been the highlight of their last tour for me, but who knows what`s to come. I still have Horning`s Hideout and Red Rocks to go. If they do even one more performance like 7-21-07, or even remotely close, it will have made the tour all worth it for me."

"this show was pretty damn good. The Rider>Stir it up>Rider is definitely the highlight of set 1. Desert Dawn is the highlight of set 2. Birdland will blow you away as well. Nershi didn`t really stand out and it ended 10 minutes before curfew. They could have definitely done one more song. See ya Nershi! Keep on keepin on SCI. Don`t let billy`s leaving stop the music!"