After a day filled with clouds and spots of rain, the sky opened up with a rainbow overhead at Red Rocks Amphitheatre as The String Cheese Incident took their steps out onto the stage for night one of a sold-out three night run. It truly is something special to witness Colorado’s First Sons grace the legendary venue’s stage. The two simply go hand in hand.

Twiddle opened the show to a revved up crowd, and played an incredible set. The Vermonters are quickly making their way up the ranks of the jamband scene and it certainly doesn’t seem far-fetched to imagine them headlining the Rocks one day (probably much sooner rather than later). “Jamflowman” led into a “Layla” jam that was tastefully done, and the band brought out Todd Stoops on keys for “Lost in the Cold.” “When It Rains It Pours” ended the set fittingly, with lyrics stating “Awake now listen to the words I’m Saying in this line that your life will be just fine and Troubles do not stay they Get replaced with good times Now we got a great life Smile as you walk by Thinking about the Day.”

Cheese came out strong with a “Dudley’s Kitchen” opener, and let things fly from there. “Climb > Outside And Inside” saw the band take their first of many explorations of the night. “Whiskey Before Breakfast”, an always welcome addition to any setlist, featured some finely executed pickin’ from Billy Nershi and beautiful violin work from Michael Kang. The set-closing “Can’t Wait Another Day” featured both Jason Hann and Nershi “crashing” Kyle Hollingsworth‘s Yamaha keyboard.

Second set opened with a stellar cover of The Rolling Stones‘ “Sympathy for the Devil”, and “On The Road” set things off to a whole other level. Then we got that trance-y Cheese with an epic “Valley of the Jig” and the Rocks turned into an all-out dance party. The set slowed down a bit with a pretty “Windy Mountain” that had ethereal qualities to it. The set-closing “Best Feeling > It Is What It Is > Black Clouds” kept the flow of the night, showing SCI in fine form. An encore of “Smile” put the final touches on the night, leaving those of us in the venue in sheer bliss and waiting in anticipation for what is sure to be a Saturday night throwdown of epic proportions.

String Cheese Incident Setlist:

SET 1: Dudley’s Kitchen, Let’s Go Outside, Climb > Outside And Inside, Look At Where We Are, Big Shoes > Just One Story > Whiskey Before Breakfast > Can’t Wait Another Day

SET 2: Sympathy For The Devil, On The Road, Valley Of The Jig, Windy Mountain, Way That It Goes, Best Feeling > It Is What It Is > Black Clouds

ENCORE: Smile

Twiddle Setlist:

Gatsby the Great > Big Country > Gatsby the Great, Hattibagen McRat, Jamflowman[1], Lost in the Cold[2], Syncopated Healing, Hatti’s Jam > When it Rains it Pours

[1] “Jamflowman” contained a “Layla” (Eric Clapton) outro jam

[2] “Lost in the Cold” featured Todd Stoops on keys

Words by Chris Meyer, Photos by Nicholas Stock. Full Gallery: