The String Cheese Incident kicked off their two night run at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY last night. After meeting the crowd’s loud roar, Michael Kang informed the audience that they’ve been waiting to play this venue for some time now. Anticipation and excitement danced as SCI delivered two unique sets.
“Search” was a good way to kick things off. The percussion-driven flavor was enough to loosen up the audience for a long night to come. “Birdland” followed up, receiving a great jam from Kang and Nershi before diving in to the new Kyle track “You’ve Got The World.”
“Sometimes A River” segueing in to “Indian Creek” was definitely a high point of the set. Both songs were played to their full potential and the resulting piece of music is one of the finest I’ve heard on this tour. “Close Your Eyes” rounded out the set after a “Song In My Head” > “Give Me The Love.”
Set two would really get the party going. Kicking things off with a “Naive Melody” had NYC patrons stoked to hear their beloved Talking Heads so close to home. The tune flowed in to an “It Is What It Is” that allowed Keith Mosely to drop some serious bass bombs on us.
“Smile” gave Nershi a chance to sing us a tune, but he couldn’t stop flopping over the words! Luckily the jam made up for it. However the real surprise of the night was looming.
“Joyful Sound” > “Shakedown Street” > “Desert Dawn” has to be one of the finest pieces of music String Cheese has strung together on this current tour. Playing the Capitol Theater, one of the Grateful Dead’s beloved venues and a place Phil Lesh still frequently plays, everybody knew a Dead tune was coming. Playing the song for just the fourth time ever last night and sandwiching it in between two Cheese favorites was definitely the way to go. The improv was on point and each section of the jam grew the crowd’s excitement. When they finally busted in to “Desert Dawn,” the Cap was ecstatic.
A “Restless Wind” encore rounded out a great night of music, but their only halfway through with the NYC-area show. The band hits the stage again tonight at 8pm.
11/11/2014 CAPITOL THEATRE, PORT CHESTER, NYSet One Search, Birdland, You’ve Got the World, Sometimes a River, Indian Creek, Song In My Head > Give Me the Love, Close Your EyesSet Two This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) > It Is What It Is > Valley of the Jig, Smile, Joyful Sound > Shakedown Street > Desert DawnEncore Restless Wind