Going in to Friday, all that I really had on my mind was getting to the Sheerwood Court to see one of my favorite bands Soulive bring the funk. We started off the day with some African beats from King Sunny Ade followed by a solid set from mainstream artist Brett Dennen. He definitely won the crowd over with his encore of "Billy Jean" as a tribute to the King of Pop (See video below). This was followed by one of the funkiest and headiest white men alive, G. Love. He and his Special Sauce gave the crowd a run for their money as he played truly epic set filled with classic G. Love and a guest appearance from Eric Krazno of Soulive, in which they covered a Freddy King song. This great show got the weekend happy hour started.
While the crowds stayed at the main stage to get a good spot for Damien Marley and Nas, Chris and I headed to the Sheerwood Court for some tunes from Soulive. Playing with the Lettuce horn section and classic MC Nigel Hall, they had the crowd moving from beginning to end, with a review of their recent catalogue including covers of James Browns "Lickin' Stick" and Mo-Town classic "Move On Up". One of the Highlights of the show was sax solos on this song from Sam Kinnenger and Zwad.
After this show was over, I had the feeling that the high point of my day and weekend had passed. Boy was I ever wrong. The following show was the headliner for the night "The String Cheese Incident". I had seen one of their last shows 2 years ago at Bonnaroo and new that they were a great band, but i truly had no idea what I was in for. The energy from the crowd was absolutely gut wrenching as this was their first show in 2 years. The first set was filled with favorite songs and some epic jam sessions. I could not tell that it had been that long since that had played together. The first set was excellent, but it would turn out to be child's ply compared to what they had in store for the second.
The lights turned out and the crowd went absolutely nuts as Cheese retook the stage. Then like clock work, as son as the first note was played, the party truly started. Thousands of glow sticks, and dozens of inflate-able toys flew through the air, while fire dancers and acrobats graced the stage. At some points you couldn't even see the stage through all of the mayhem. Not a single person entire crowd was sitting down. They couldn't, for Cheese never gave you a chance to slow down. This continued the entire second set, with various surprises coming out including a guest appearance from Keller Williams. The encore was truly a high point for me as they covered Stevie Wonders "Higher Ground", in which I have never jumped higher off of the ground in my entire life.
At shows end I really wasn't sure exactly had happened for I was still trying to pick up all of the pieces of my face. Everyone who passed by was in sheer awe, not knowing what to say except for that it was one of the greatest shows they had scene Cheese play. While everyone else headed out to the late night shows, I stayed to discuss what I had just seen with other people who weren't quite ready to leave the level that String Cheese had put them on. I am completely sold on The Incident and I will follow them anywhere, if they can play half of the show that they did at Rothbury.
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