How did March sneak up on us so fast?! It seems as if Yonder's Cabin Fever Tour just ended and now we were getting ready for Winter Carnival with String Cheese. I got some sweet new outfits, and we hit the road for our home away from home - Colorado.
Annie flew in and we all met up at Junk's house Wednesday night, for some relaxing before the big weekend ahead.
The next day we met up with everyone at Bill's house and before we knew it, it was time to head to Broomfield. We hung out on top of the parking garage for a little while, then got in line... and once inside, got a spot on the rail! We had all talked about just being on the rail for one night, but it was so easy to get up there, that we ended up doing it all three nights. I mean, once a rail-rider, always a rail-rider. It's almost impossible to find another spot that is as much fun as the rail.
Ott was the opener. Yuck. Sorry, but this is not my kind of thing. But then String Cheese came on, and the excitement was about to just bubble over. And they opened with Smile. How wonderful.
This was the best Cheese show we had seen in years. Last year's shows were great and all, but they weren't as tight as they could have been, and it seemed as if they had forgotten a lot of lyrics and how to play certain songs. This time, it was obvious that they had practiced. And they brought out some songs that hadn't been played since 2007 or earlier. This was just phenomenal.
My highlights from this night were Smile, Birdland> Flying Home Jam> Wheel Hoss> Birdland, Black and White, Suntan, Water, Rivertrance, Cottonmouth, Big Shoes, and Ramble On. Oh man, that Ramble On was FIRE!
Night two. We were a bit more organized for Friday's show and we got to the parking garage nice and early to hang out and eat some food. It was a little windy, but it was otherwise a beautiful day.
Once again, we got on the rail after a short wait in line. This night's opener was The New South, and they kicked some serious bluegrass ass.
After a short break, Cheese came on and started it out right with Just One Story. I love this song! The music this night was much more trippy than the night before. Lots of funky, spacey jams. There were a couple points where the band weren't quite all together, but they quickly pulled it in and got back on the same page. It was much more noticeable at the show, from the front row, where we could see their faces - we hardly noticed it when we went back and listened to the recordings.
My highlights from this night were Just One Story, Little Hands, Sirens, Climb, Sing a New Song, Give Me the Love, Rhythm of the Road, and Shine. I couldn't believe we got Climb and Shine in the same show. Very nice.
Night three. This weekend went by far too fast. Night three was here before we knew it, and we wondered what they had left in store for us. There were plenty of songs we all wished to hear, but would those wishes come true?
We gathered up our crew and went back up to the parking garage one last time. There was a poster show happening at the ALoft Hotel right by the venue, and Colin ended up getting a bunch of really sweet posters - all of the ones he had hoped to find. A few of us were pretty antsy, so we headed down to the line. We picked the wrong day to spend the most time in line - it was COLD! Probably still not as cold as Iowa, but still cold. But it was worth it, we got inside and found our familiar rail spots in front of Keith.
The openers for the final night were Ivan Neville's Dumpstafunk. Awesome! So funky! How can you go wrong with two basses? You can't! Finally, after the Dumpstafunk set (Put it in the dumpsta!), Cheese came on and started us off with Song in my Head. Not the most thrilling of set openers, but whatever. They played a handful of new songs on this run, but the one that I really enjoyed was Rosie, which they played Saturday night. We got a bunch of great songs this night... including one of my favorites - Sand Dollar. My oh my. I've only gotten this song twice before, and the first time was before I knew the song... this was so amazing. Thank you, Cheese. Thank you.
There was a parade scheduled for the final night, and during Way Back Home, the performers started coming out. The parade came from the back of the floor, while dancers rose on platforms in the middle of the floor and on each side of the stage. Aerial performers came down all around, and people bungeed down from the ceiling. It was one of the coolest performances I've seen at a Cheese show. There are plenty of videos on YouTube. Check em out.
My highlights from this show were Search, 100 Year Flood, Rosie, Will it go Round in Circles, Shantytown, Valley of the Jig, Howard, Way Back Home, Sand Dollar, Ring of Fire, Desert Dawn, and Black Clouds> Wanna Be Startin Somethin> Black Clouds.
It felt great to see Cheese again. I hope to get many more fun weekends like this in the future.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment