The String Cheese Incident is a band that is striving to inspire creativity and freedom in their audience.
At the same time, their own musical expression is influenced by their fans’ positive spirit and emphatic contributions to The String Cheese Community.
The members of the band mixed together to create a phenomenal sound at the fabulous Fox Theatre to a sold-out crowd on Friday night. They played a mix of bluegrass, calypso, salsa, afro-pop, funk, rock and jazz was fun to listen to.
Bill Nershi, the lead guitar and vocalist, started the show with a happy birthday to the drummer, Michael Travis, and then he wielded his 1974 Martin D-28 to kick off a wonderful night of music and dancing. Michael Kang, with his eclectic assortment of mandolins and a violin, added a little variety to the group.
The talented Kyle Hollingsworth provided sounds from several keyboards. The man keeping the baseline going was Keith Mosely. Travis kindly treated everyone to great drum solos during the numerous jam sessions.
The party started almost four hours before the doors opened, for fans who wanted to get the best seats for the general admission show. Some fans were even trying to earn the money back that they spent on the concert tickets by selling grilled cheese sandwiches, homemade clothing and everything in between.
As soon as the lights went down the entire crowd got up on their feet, and it seemed like they didn’t sit down until the end of the night.
The orchestra pit had been cleared of all the seats, and 150 people were allowed into the new standing-room-only area that became dancing-room-only as soon as the band took the stage.
Many of the diehard fans removed their shoes and added them to the piles of backpacks strewn about the entire theater. There was dancing everywhere. People were dancing in the orchestra pit, aisles, seats, balcony and even out in the lobby.
All five members of the band played with endless enthusiasm to keep the show going strong for both sets of almost two hours each. The best way to sum up this show is to use the words from the Jackson Brown song, “Load Out.”
“Tonight the people were so fine/ They waited there in line/ And when they got up on their feet they made the show/ And that was sweet.”
