After a pretty exciting night one at Port Chester’s Capitol Theatre, The String Cheese Incident continued with high energy and tasty jams for the Sunday before Memorial Day. “Vertigo”, a new tune, kicked things off on a rockin’ note, and the following tune “Black and White” wouldn’t let up. That segued in a really interesting fashion into “Can’t Wait Another Day”, which is always a joyful number played by SCI.
“Midnight Moonlight”, a Peter Rowan tune from Old & in the Way, nodded to Jerry Garcia in the house that he very much helped build (the venue’s bar and adjacent venue is called Garcia’s). That cover served as a highlight of the weekend, but wouldn’t be the final time bassist Keith Mosely would take the vocal duty on a Garcia-linked tune on this incredibly spectacular night of Cheese.
“Sirens” paved itself into a mesmerizing jam before sinking into “Restless Wind”. The “Roots Run Deep” chant was loud from the crowd as we entered the halfway point of the night, and of the Capitol Theatre run.
Set 2 started off and ended with “Just One Story”, a typical party trick from the six-piece eclectic outfit. In between, they explored their dancy side with a deeply experimental “Rosie” and the Nershi-staple “Song in my Head”. “Tore Up Over You”, a tune that Jerry Garcia Band would play, served as a definite highlight of the run, with Keith Mosely once again taking lead vocals. The band sounded incredible on the rockin’ blues number, but they were still just getting warmed up!
“45th of November” featured the finest jam of the run, with the band truly channeling The Dead and operating as a free-form unit. Definitely a recording worth listening to if you can seek it out, or if you’re subscribed on Nugs.net. As incredible as that was, most of the crowd became even more elated when they segued it into Talking Heads’ “Burning Down The House”. Channeling their inner-David Byrne, Cheese practically did burn the Cap down…even Peter Shapiro came out in between the second set and the encore and addressed the crowd: “This is why we do what we do.”
It was a special night, and a “Barstool” opening closed things in the most soulful of manners. Incredible. Major kudos to String Cheese Incident for setting the bar high on Saturday and then knocking it right out of the park on Sunday. With one more night, we can’t wait to see what they do to close the door on this incredible run!
The Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY – 5/26/2019
Set 1: Vertigo, Black and White> Can’t Wait Another Day> Midnight Moonlight, Valley Of The Jig, Sirens> Te Quiero jam> Restless Wind
Set 2: Just One Story> Rosie, SIMH, Tore Up Over You, 45th of November> Burning Down The House*> Birdland> Wheel Hoss> Birdland> Just One Story
Encore: Barstool
*- Talking Heads cover, LTP 10/29/16 Hulaween