Take Time To Give Thanks Make Time To Be Giving I'm Gonna Stop And Think Twice About The Way That I Am Living Did I Say A Kind Word Am I Proud Of My Actions You Know A Job Well Done Gives Me Satisfaction Can I Earn Your Trust Your Love And Affection Just One Step At A Time In The Right Direction I'm Gonna Aim For The Sky Keep My Feet On The Ground Raise My Voice To The Heavens Make A Joyful Sound na na na na na na na nah
The String Cheese Incident
Outside Inside 2001
DANIEL:
As I previously mentioned , first night of the tour materialized Wednesday Evening at the atrocious Mesa Theater. Well , technically I never waltzed through their front doors and that saved me some righteous $$$$. The sound inside was deafening!! I was able to comfortably enjoy the music from a bench on Main Street minus the undesirable tinnitus. Which is a bummer because I would have happily paid the day of charge. Daniel and the Cosmic County Band are worthy of catching for sure. No Worries
LEFTOVER:
Thursday was a night of thunderous bluegrass and way more unequaled than I anticipated as The Dude & I were hooked up with VIP/Backstage passes from Kalinderrrrrrrrs. Total Score
The extraordinary Infamous Stringdusters opened for Leftover Salmon and both bands brought their A-Game for the tiny GJ Crowd. And just check out that mesmerizing sunset to boot. Obviously Leftover threw out a few Dead Cover Tunes in honor of the SF Shows. I have an iPhone clip from their cover Deal that showcases a gorgeously awe-inspiring sunset from that side stage perspective. But under an almost full moon , free VIP TIX , and night number two of a five night run was pretty whipping. Yes Please
Day two on tour and I am already ahead of the stokeage curve. Below is a photo of The Blue Z checking his phone when I sent a few photos to himself. He couldn't believe that The Dude & I were side stage for the show. The highlight for me was when Drew Emmitt turns our way , he definitely recognizes me but doesn't recall from where , gives me a quick head nod of Whats Up Man. If I explained my short residency in Crested Butte to him , he would certainly recall our many encounters. But on this night , he only knew my face but politely made my night as if we were brothers in arms. Way Cool
BIKE NIGHT:
Friday Night Bike Night was off the flipping hook like a fighting slippery wet rainbow trout!!
137 rides took part as we rolled through Main Street ringing bike bells , north on 10th street as we socialized , through the college campus to cheer on the mens soccer team in action , and west to Sherwood Park for some casual meeting and greetings. One of my favorite routes for sure. Might have spent more time at the park than we should have and back towards town we rode. Dig It
The ending brewery location was Trail Life on Main Street. After a few brief interactions , our tribe became restless , another adventure began. Keep in mind , my plan was to go easy this night as I have about a three hour drive Saturday morning. A Three Hour Tour - Sing Along - A Three Hour Tour
Rounding off the cruise around GJ , we found ourselves at the Warehouse 2565 for an outdoor country western show. All the local rednecks were in attendance. This band claimed to have a #1 hit song back in 1991 but did the Ludacris thing all night. Sing only 20 seconds of an iconic song and then talk Sh*t. At one point , kid you not , they covered Neil's Sweet Caroline for a few bars and then the front man started talking about earwax. No Sh*t , Earwax
SATURDAY:
In the middle of the night , thanx bladder , I awoke to smoke. The LEE fire that I previously mentioned in my last post vaulted to 45,000 acres and filled the Grand Valley with coking smoke. Sucked
The Dude & I were motivated to boogie out and we hit the road by about 10:30am. Give or take a half of an hour or so. The drive was a complete blur as The Dude downloaded a bunch of information into my already fully loaded gigabyte mind. Heavy
Without racing , maintaining my lane , and refusing to pay for any speeding tickets for stupidity , we made the trip to Red Cliff in two hours and forty minutes. Somehow the flow of traffic caused us to make excellent time. This photo below was off the front deck at Stacy and Justin's place and clearly you all are able to make out the hazy smoke scene there. It wasn't bad but it was aloft unfortunately. Check out my new shades that I purchased for myself as a birthday gift back in July. Joe Cool
Stacy went above the call of duty and supplied all of her friends from Houston , Blake from the front strange , Mike 's crew , and us with endless amounts of party snacks , heated brie with cranberry sauce , beautifully homemade humus , and pounds of chicken legs off the slow cooked BBQ. We were offered plate after plate after plate until the high end party bus arrived. Yes , Stacy is a veteran party goer and ordered a bus!! We all bounced into our comfy seats with a stocked ice chest and Vail here we come. Rock Star Status
This would be my first time at the swanky Presidential Gerald Ford Amphitheater and I was absolutely ecstaic. Well , there was one missing piece. The bus parked just above the amphitheater and within minutes of walking , hello front gates. Easiest to and from for a show ever. First Class
Stacy decided that a group photo was essential as we paraded our way along the meandering path towards the entrance. A random gal offered to snap off commemorative digital photos and these are the two best shots that she captured of us. From here on out , magical evening. Simply Magical
This would be my Madian Voyage to this exclusively fashionable amphitheater and what a prominent feature my friends. And I am here to witness The Cheese Live!! Little did I know , I was actually there to see long lost friends. The Dude & I originally walked up to this grassy area for a simple overview and for gaining our bearings before locating our seats. Gorgeous
Now , I purchased these birthday tickets for The Dude back in February when Stacy disclosed the inside information. She explained that I needed Pavilion IV tix and directions is exactly what I followed. I bought the Pavilion 4 E 5 and 6 tickets. However , I had no clue that The Dude & I would be five rows from the stage. Marvelous
After opening with Sweet Spot , Little Hands was next and that song merged with Turn This Around for a three song banger to start the show off right. Midnight Moonlight is also a main staple for the occasion and On The Road totally made sense for a travel day the next day. At least that is how I perceived it anyway. I mean , the whole first set wasn't predictable by any means , wasn't built for me , but all the tunes resinated with my happy A$$. More?? Yes Please
Incredibly versatile first set , full moon rising through the fire red cloud cover , and then locating our California posse was rather simple, Boom shakalaka Boom. So at set break , The Dude & I wandered on over and that is when the starship took flight. Back here on earth , The Cheese were creatively getting after it. When somebody over analyzes or makes the assumption that you might need to speak with a therapist , nope , you just need friends , dancing , and The String Cheese Incident. Highly Recommended
Every time I took a quick photo or look towards the stage , two members of The Cheese were smiling at each other. The Cheese is clearly in a good place and making amazing jams together. Back like in the 2003 era in my humble opinion. And this ( HERE and jump to the 2:30 time stamp - this is a NUGS YouTube link in HD ) is the first song titled Sweet Spot for opening the first set at the Ford Amphitheater. If anything , please watch that link for the toe tapping beat and for checking out the stage , flowers , and how happy the band members appear to be. They were feeding off each other all night long!! You could easily comprehend how much they enjoy one another and how synced up they made us all feel. Love That
The venue is ideal for any musical act , the backstage floral arrangement brought out the depth of the stage itself , the lights accented all aspects of the evening , The Cheese were on wordless communication of higher powers , and countless times my eyes would come back into focus and here stands before me is another wonderful face of a friends from years , if not tens of years ago , starring right into my eyes. Endless amount of times I heard " Cant Believe You're Here " and " I Love You " and " Where Have You Been " and " It Is Really You" and once I heard " Holy Sh*t , It's The Padre" and I always focused with all my might to shout back ," You Look So Good " and the hugs were on. Big Hugs
SUNDAY:
The morning was a little rough but not bad. The Dude & I crashed out in Stacy & Justin's trailer after an evening on the deck of story telling , stargazing , and eventually solving all the world problems the way that we do after hours. All I could hear as my eyes rolled back into my head were the serenading sounds of the creek washing over the river rock just below the camper. Deep Sleep
Inside the house , not a creature was stirring. Thankfully , the kitchen is perfectly laid out for easy navigation as I fired up the coffee marker for all. Once the humans caught wind of fresh ground coffee , the kitchen was full of life as we reminisced over our personal highlights from the night before. Giggles were exchanged , relived excitement built once again , heated breakfast burritos were served , hugs were shared , and The Dude & I were back on the road towards the Big City of GJ. The down side would be , the LEE fire had doubled in size and reached 120,000 acres overnight!! We chatted that the band is going to cancel the GJ show for sure. Glenwood Springs was awful and from the canyon you literally couldn't even make out the towering rock walls. Then , at the top of Debeque Canyon before dropping onto the valley , we bust through the smoke to Blue Bird Skies!! It was just like a cinematic war movie the way we drove through the last bit of nasty forest fire smoke to open blue skies of beauty. Totally Beautiful
Here is the first song ( HERE and jump to the 9:12 time stamp for another NUGS YouTube video in HD ) from the GJ Show titled Song In My Head. This performance blew my mind. You have to understand , we thought that the fires would cause a cancellation. We then thought that the show would just be a canned show after the spectacular Vail experience. We figured that it would be a traditional Sunday Bluegrass first set and then a quick second set before they boogied on out to the Northeast for the rest of their tour next weekend. NOPE
The Cheese blew this Los C Amphitheater off the map. I interpreted that it was just me and my preconceived attitude about how much I love these guys. And I am bias when it comes to The Cheese. I enjoy The Panic , I so dig Moe , big fan of UM but The Cheese does it for me. And it wasn't even like they played ALL my favorite Cheese tunes or anything. It was just them!! Exquisitely Praiseworthy
Think reggae , Kieth Mosley breaks out the best improvised lyrics while covering Steve Miller Band's Joker with "Shake Those Palisade Peach Trees" instead of wanna shake your trees. I mean , class act by The Cheese. They even dropped into an original greasy jam Rhythm Of The Road and morphed that into Other One by The Grateful Dead without missing a beat. Like legendary acts while working back into another original It Is What It Is for about a 20 minute non stop jam of three songs. Personally , my favorite journey started with a nonstop mix of Sirens > Birdland > Lonesome Road Blues > Birdland. Mind Melting
MONDAY:
This photo below made my weekend. I was already having the time of my life when Susan busted out this surprise. Way back in about 2002 we shall say , we all lived together at Amber Acres. During one of our Holidaze , I stitched the bottom of the appropriate shirts for the appropriate human for a reusable laundry bag. Susan brought hers out from California and here it is. Slapped Me Way Back In Time
Pure validation here folks. Hippie Jim , Sweet Susan , Uncle Karl , DC , Lisa B, Snowmass REED , Erin & Jack are all texting friends with the band and obviously CrackBooking friends. All day Monday , everyone was chatting about how unexceptionally good the GJ show was. The band was texting back about how much they enjoyed GJ. Kyle wrote a CrackBook post about playing on fire with his brothers in the band and on and on and on about GJ. See , it wasn't just my gravitas. The Cheese vibrated the Los Colonias Amphitheater with life and substance. The String Cheese Incident intertwined a full spectrum of notes from a Caribbean vibe to a rock vibe to a jam band notion to a reggae infused feel to a bluegrass traditional sound with a hint of classic rock and roll after a dancing jazz fusion tease. All in one set!!! They literally played a song for anyone and everyone no matter your musical preference. All Encompassing
And to hear from the band , to hear from friends , and to contribute with my own twisted insights , unimaginable evening with The Cheese. Speaking of astonishing , the above photo captured the not so Mighty Colorado River. Yes , that is the boat dock! J & K even mentioned that they have NEVER seen the river this low and they bought their place back in 1992. Shocking
So I hope that you enjoyed this write up as much as I enjoyed reliving it. My soul fundamentally begged for this five night run of musical stimulations. Dancing while connecting with friends was momentous and beyond meaningful for all parties. I am thankful for the golden opportunity and so thankful for the golden ticket to do so. Thank you Stacy & Justin , Thank you Cheese family , and Thank you for reading along. And if you would be so kind , Please watch this 5 min video from the weekend with The Cheese. Thanx In Advance
Spread Love ,
Cheers
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