The String Cheese Incident Stages Electric Forest “Whole Shebang” Send-Off Spectacular [Watch]
The String Cheese Incident closed out its annual hosting duties at Electric Forest in Rothbury, MI with an explosive finale of guest stars, semi-controversial cover song choices, and fireworks, on and off stage. Cheese is well known for having a multi-genre sound that is all its own but that’s never stopped the seminal dancegrass band from pushing its limits and pulling out all the stops. On special occasions, such as the legendary Forest Saturday night closing sets, The String Cheese Incident delivers displays of sensory overload so expansive they’re dubbed “The Whole Shebang” and rightly so.
Set one kicked off with the organ and keys-drenched intro to “Outside and Inside” from Kyle Hollingsworth and a ripping guitar solo from multi-instrumentalist Michael Kang to start things off with a bang. Kang kept up his efforts on the following “Give Me Love” with his signature crisp, melodic style that somehow never overpowers his bandmates’ work yet can reach mile-high heights when he lets loose.
The String Cheese Incident – “Outside and Inside” [Pro-Shot] – 6/24/23
Related: The String Cheese Incident Starts Electric Forest Run With A Multi-Genre Dance Party [Videos]
Bassist Keith Moseley dropped a fierce, thumping heartbeat to “Birdland” before the bluegrass roots of Cheese’s take on the tune kicked in. After a wide-ranging middle section Cheese brought the whole thing back down to Earth. Kang promised the cheering crowd a bunch more bluegrass to come before grabbing his fiddle and keeping his word with a “Black Clouds” that had the dance-hungry Forest audience scootin’ and bootin’.
Kang kept his violin but he and the band abandoned the genre, slipping into the Indian modalities utilized so well on “Bhangra Saanj”. After the abrupt finale to “Saanj”, Kang directed everyone’s attention to a magnificent setting sun breaking through the trees. It’s these moments…
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