String Cheese Incident
Veteran's Memorial
Columbus, OH
Tuesday April 16, 2002

Reviewed By Cory Tressler

Tuesdays in Columbus are usually a lot like Mondays. The weekend is still an eternity away and most people are settling into their normal workweek routine. Like all Columbus-ites I am no different, by Tuesday my weekend hangover is gone and my mind has returned to its normal worker droid position. But every once in a great while, a Tuesday will come along and give my week a giant kick in the ass. Tuesday April 16th was one of those days.

Anyone who has ever been to Columbus knows of the unpredictability, and usual crappyness, of the local weather. Columbus is famous for it's 250 or so days of rain, snain, snow, or mostly cloudy skies. Columbus has great weather for people who enjoy sleeping or who are allergic to the sun. But April 16th was far from your prototypical Columbus day, 86 degrees and sunny by 1:00pm.

This amazing weather was a great start to a Tuesday that I already had high hopes for. The String Cheese Incident had made their annual pilgrimage to Columbus, and like always I would be in attendance. The String Cheese Incident is a music smorgasbord of style and originality. Their music dives into every region of the music spectrum, and at any moment they could switch gears and jump into another direction. Their improvisational music brings flocks of fans with them everywhere they go, and this year's Columbus Incident was no different.

A few thousand concertgoers jiggled their way into Veteran's Memorial for a night of dancing that would surpass the beauty of the remarkable spring day. String Cheese began their set with a mix of bluegrass and a mix of funk. A firey rendition of the traditional folk song Midnight Moonlight gave the excited crowd a chance to loosen their legs up for the long night. Bill Nershi, who plays acoustic Rhythm and Lead guitar, sang the rising chorus while Michael Travis pounded out the rhythms on his drums. Michael Travis is like no other drummer I have ever seen before. His outward appearance is very similar to Animal from Jim Henson's Muppets. (Animal is the Muppet that, coincidentally, played drums for the Muppets Rock 'n' Roll Band.) Michael Travis' drum set includes the standard assortment of cymbals, snare, bass drum, and some tom-tom's, but it also includes an array of bongos and other percussion instruments. Because of this expanded drum arrangement, Travis is able to hold down the time with his left hand and legs by using the standard part of his drum kit, while at the same time adding calypso, Latin, and flamingo rhythms with his right hand and the extra percussion instruments. It is really wild to see and hear him play this way, he is constantly moving and the sounds are just coming out of him like crazy.

Midnight Moonlight was followed by the original Cheese funk song, SKAT. The bass playing of Keith Mosely was fantastic throughout this extremely funky song. Mosely's playing was consistent throughout the evening, but during the funkier tunes his playing really seemed to jump up a notch, this added bass funk gave the entire band the energy to stretch and jam things out. An instrumental jazz/funk/rock version of The Beatles Taxman came next. This was an obvious nod to Uncle Sam and the IRS, being that the day before had been the dreaded tax day for all Americans. This Taxman was very different from George Harrison's three-minute pop song, String Cheese dove into the basic theme and melody of the song and then expanded and explored all the musical possibilities that laid within the basic framework. The electric mandolin playing of Michael Kang was extra crisp and inspired. This jam led the band into another one of their funkier songs, Born on the Wrong Planet. This song combines all the elements of String Cheese, giving the crowd an up-tempo funk odyssey to groove along with. The instrumental jam that came out of Born on the Wrong Planet went on for about ten minutes and this allowed Kyle Hollingsworth to set fire to his keyboards. Kyle's chopping organ and tickling synthesizer caused the entire crowd to vibrate with every note. The Cheese closed their set with the mellow and jazzy Drifting, allowing the crowd to catch their breath after a set full of high paced dancing.

String Cheese took the stage for their second set and I could immediately sense that something special was about to happen. The stage lights burned their glowing redness upon the stage and a hush came over the crowd. It was one of those quintessential Rock Concert moments, when the crowd can feel the band's energy and the band can feel the crowd's anticipation. Then suddenly, Michael Travis started the familiar rhythm intro to Led Zeppelin's Ramble On. The crowd irrupted with appreciation and the Cheese rocked out on Zeppelin's classic tune. Michael Kang played a wild and raunchy solo on his electric mandolin while the rest of the Cheese pumped out the backing rhythms. An extremely well done version of a hard to cover Zeppelin song. The Ramble On jam led the band into Yo Se. I had never heard this unusually titled song, but I can't wait to hear it again. Latin/African styled beats gave this song an instantly accessible and danceable feel. The rest of String Cheese's set continued to build. They used slower country-esqe songs to cool the crowd off and more intense jazzy numbers to pump them back up again. The set reached a climax with the long and rocked out original, Sing a New Song. The Cheese gathered all of the momentum that it had been building throughout the night and exploded during this final tune. Interplayed solos and rhythms bounced around the over-spacious Vet's Memorial. The band constructed one last musical climax and then left the stage amidst screams, whistles, and applause from everyone in the crowd.

The Cheese came back on stage and gave the Columbus crowd one last song. Round the Wheel capped off a night filled with great emotion. Virtually every style of music known to man was present at one point in String Cheese's concert. No style was left untouched and no one in attendance left unsatisfied. After finishing Round the Wheel, each member of the band acknowledged the appreciative audience and then Michael Kang walked up to the microphone and calmly stated, "Not bad for a Tuesday night." Not bad, not bad at all.