Ooh Las Vegas (Aint no place for a poor boy like me)

The String Cheese Incident, Las Vegas 2015. Photo credit: Matthew Wetmore

The String Cheese Incident played a three-night run at the Las Vegas Brooklyn Bowl. As fans mingled with the Vegas strip crowd, excitement was in the air, and passersby were left wondering, “What’s the deal with all the hippies!”.

The String Cheese Incident, Las Vegas 2015

Friday night’s opening show started off with “Close Your Eyes” and “Little Hands” followed by the first performance of Gram Parsons’ “Ooh Las Vegas” since October 4, 2006. The first set of the run also included SCI’s beloved cover of “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” by Talking Heads. The second set of the run was highlighted by a “Miss Brown’s Teahouse” > “Chameleon” > “Miss Brown’s Teahouse” > “Birdland” sequence and also included a cover of The Beatles’ “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.” The String Cheese Incident paid tribute to birthday boy Peter Gabriel by encoring with “Shakin’ The Tree” on Friday.

On Saturday, SCI tipped its hat towards Valentine’s Day by covering Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved” in the first set and working in other love-themed songs into the evening’s setlist. DJ Logic emerged at the beginning of the second set for a jam that led into “Let’s Go Outside.” When The String Cheese Incident returned for the encore, Bill Nershi told the story behind the original “Las Vegas” before the band performed the tune complete with Nershi leading them through a lounge-y rendition of the Tom Jones favorite “It’s Not Unusual” in the middle – a SCI debut.

Sunday’s finale featured a number of fan favorite originals such as “Search,” “Rosie” and “Jellyfish” as well as a handful of fun covers including “Viva Las Vegas,” Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” and The Rolling Stones “Symphathy For The Devil.” Mike Rempel of Lotus helped out on guitar during “Galactic” as part of a two-song encore that brought the run to a close.