Releasing their fourth film in only two years, The String Cheese Incident finally decided to put the shtick aside and simply issue their first uninterrupted, full-length live concert. Recorded during their annual Winter Carnival tour - consistently known for first set sit-ins and second set monsters - this particular selection is the final night of a three-show run at Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium, with the band fully engulfed in the hometown charge. Aside from tearing through old-time classics and some newly written favorites, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder join the festivities for a few bluegrass standards, and surprise guest, Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, takes a seat next to Michael Travis, and the two bring Tim O’Brien’s already exploratory composition, “Land’s End,” to even greater heights.
The bouncy rhythms of Michael Kang’s, “Cedar Laurels,” get things started off early. Only a year old tune at the time, it’s rapid development into a celebratory centerpiece is an immediate example of their continued progress as collective instrumentalists. Longtime legend, Skaggs steps in with fellow bandmates for rousing renditions of “Nine Pound Hammer,” “Hold Watcha Got,” and the Earl Scruggs classic, “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” before the band really lets loose on their own. The rather less than climatic “These Waves” slowly develops into a cavernous journey well beyond it’s boundaries, leading The Cheese into the closing reprise of “Don’t Say” to which the crowd graciously responds. Yet the jam within “Birdland” is the real boiling point. Entitled “Flying West Jam,” they patiently create a roomful of anxiety, then quickly release it all back into “Birdland” to close the set.
The contemporary celtic arrangement of “Rivertrance” launches the second set, followed by Billy Nershi’s timeless, “Rhythm of The Road.” Both fully extended and thoroughly explored - mostly due to the leading lines of keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth, a common pattern the past few years - the band set an immediate precedent, successfully fulfilled with the crippling “Lands End,” and it’s dual-rhythm section onslaught. Travis and Kreutzmann, pounding in unison, reminiscent of the rhythm devils of old, accentuate the already powerful composition with heavy rumblings and an intensity only two synchronized drummers can achieve.
Offered in Dolby 5.1 Surround and DTS 5.1 Surround, as well as being mixed at George Lucas’ coveted Skywalker Sound in Marin County, the two disc set is as close to being at the Fillmore that night as technologically possible. Further adding to the experience, the DVD features a full hour of MX Mutliangle shots, enabling the viewer to switch the focus to various band members throughout the show based on picture-in-picture previews. It’s an added bonus if you’re anticipating solos, though the casual fan may find that once you decide to switch the camera angle, the part you wanted to see has already passed.
And if those incessant crowd shots found in most concert films get you down, don’t fret. Aside from the occasional panoramic sweep or tie-dye twirler for cinematic reference points, this is more or less a 3+ hour offering of strictly Cheese.
