the path we're on is comin' to a fork now...

(Stubb's BBQ afte ACL this year)

Black Clouds

Black clouds rollin’ up the valley.

Black clouds cover up the sun,

Black clouds rollin’ up the valley,

How can I be sure that you’re the one?

Rivers rushin’ through the canyons,

Rivers rollin’ through the hills,

Rivers rushin’ through the canyons,

I’ve got a restless heart I cant keep still.

See this path we're on coming to a fork now,

The forest blocks the light of day

On this pathway we must make a choice now,

Stay together or go our separate ways.

Thunder clappin’ in the treetops,

Sparks shoot out in the night,

Thunder clappin’ in the treetops

Its hard to say who’s wrong and who is right.

Fire ragin’ in the woodlands,

Smoke blows across the fields

Fire ragin’ in the woodlands,

You don’t really know the way I feel.

11/24/2006 Fabulous Fox - Atlanta, GA
(Fri.)
Set 1: Close Your Eyes, Mouna Bowa, Just One Story, Joyful Sound, Windy Mountain, On The Road > Rain > On the Road
Set 2: Black Clouds > Born on the Wrong Planet > Lands End > Resume Man > Remington Ride , Elvis's Wild Ride > Lands End > Bigger Isn't Better > Johnny Cash > Lester had a Coconut >Diggin In' > Texas > Jellyfish > Black Clouds
Encore: Missin' Me, The Devil Went Down to Georgia


When I checked the set list from String Cheese Incident’s first night at the Fox this weekend, I was struck by a real sadness about the whole bit for the first time. My defenses were down and for a moment I realized what a big deal was coming to an end. In a moment, I had that emotional connection, that miracle “we” phenomenon, and I realized to a new degree how sad it is that Billy is leaving the band.
If I had a band, one band that was my band, the band I grew up with, traveled with, had those transcendental moments with, it would be the String Cheese Incident, without a doubt. I’ve seen them over 60 times during different periods of my life, and as strange as it sounds, it's kind of a family affair. It’s a different sort of family than who I spent my Thanksgiving with, of course, but it’s a family nonetheless. Just like coming home and seeing different parts of my self from different angles in space and time, seeing Cheese over the years offered me a spiritually reflective surface that is hard to find these days. Their music pulled me through some hard times when Dad died, and their music helped me connect more deeply with old friends and make new ones along the way. Their music let me experience moments of joy I otherwise would not have known existed, as they are unparalleled so far.
From the shows in Maui that Tanya and I went to when we were freshman, the same trip I saw Keller Williams for the first time, playing in the hotel lobby, to the Late Night show at Vegoose this year, String Cheese and I have been some places together. My friends and I have had some of the best times of our life’s at String Cheese shows, in the parking lots, on the road, just rocking out to a great disc somewhere. As much as I may want to skimp on the emotional and cosmic connection I feel with this band, for better or worse, it is there. As far as I'm concerned it's for the better, but I know what you might be thinking.
As for Phish, whom I love and respect dearly, I was simply too young to catch their real heat live. I wasn’t in the right place at the right time to catch them when they were playing small venues and theaters, where the real magic happens. Now I did see them live over 20 times, but most of my love for Phish was cultivated through recordings of their shows from the years before I knew what Phish was really about. I respect Phish for everything they are, and out of that respect, I respect that I simply wasn’t up there in New England when they were peaking and most plugged in with everyone and the cosmic giggle.
With Cheese I feel like I was a little closer to really getting close to them. I watched them grow and change at the same time that I was, and we connected on a because of that. In strange, mysterious ways, we reflected each other. Through peaks and valleys, my heart and my respect and my gratitude will forever be with the String Cheese Incident. I am forever grateful for the joy they opened my eyes to. They are my “Best Show Ever.” They were, they are, my band.

I wasn’t even there, but I can tell from the set list, the String Cheese Incident’s in Atlanta over Thanksgiving weekend were special. These were the first two shows they've played since the band announced Billy Nershi, guitar player and one of the founding members of the band, would be leaving after summer 2007 to go his own way and “pursue other musical interests.”
I remember when Phish announced the end was near, and all of a sudden their songs took on new meaning, befitting to the new context. It seemed as if they were written with the anticipation of the end in mind all along, but most people weren’t really listening that closely anymore. "How had I not seen this before?" it felt like. It was so obvious. “Don’t want to be anything where I don’t know when to stop…”
Some songs are just good, and you appreciate them for all sorts of reasons, but you don’t notice their real (maybe?) significance until you’re thinking about the end. And then, the freshness of the ongoing conversation, the ominous magic of each night's intimate set list, the part that started the whole thing, it all comes around again with a new freshness in a final flare before leaving the atmosphere.
For example, I can tell that the first night’s Black Clouds sandwich set, filled with all the Nershi classics, was one of those sets that could only mean as much as it did the night they played it. I remember when they played a Late Night set at Stubb’s BBQ after the second Austin City Limits festival. It was a few nights after Johnny Cash had died, and the first show they'd played since. They've been playing a song called 'Johnny Cash' for years, so for those who knew, it was certainly on their mind. For the most part I guess I thought the song always felt like a fun funny nonsense song that rhymes and is about getting on a train. There didn’t seem to be too much deep, hidden meaning in the silliness, until I heard it that night in Austin when they played it at Stubb's. “This one’s for the man in black!” I remember Kang saying. That night, when they played it, it was as if the whole song had been written for the day Johnny Cash died. They’ve been playing it for years, but for the first time that night, the song took on a whole new meaning. It even made sense. This may sound silly, but I dare you to go find the lyrics to 'Johnny Cash' and see what I mean. "Johnny Cash is on that train, and he ain't ever comin' back..."
When you’re at a show like that, and you know the history, and you’re caught up on the conversation, and there's something happening somewhere in the world, there is something that can be felt energetically that cannot be captured. The difference between being present at a show, and getting a copy of it, is a metaphysical comparison that makes all the difference in the world. Don’t doubt for a minute if that tingling sensation on the back of your neck is real, it’s real.
Night two’s “Good Time’s Around the Bend” opener followed by a grassier set than usual seems like a nod back to their roots. I think I get it. I wasn’t even there, but I think I get it. I was giving thanks with my family in California, something I wouldn’t trade for anything, but I still get what a special weekend it was for String Cheese, and a part of me really wishes I could have been there. When I saw the 'Smile' encore I really got it. "...maybe I’ll stop traveling some day...”
God speed Nershi, and the rest of the band too. You’ve exceeded all my expectations again and again. I have nothing but gratitude for sharing what you did with us, and I wish you all the best in whatever direction you go from here. The only thing certain is change itself, and if there is one band that made an art out of constant change, it’s you guys. You can’t force the magic you guys tapped into, you create the space for it and if we’re lucky enough, if all the different parts come together just right, it flows through strong enough to leave an impression that sticks with you for a lifetime. Without a doubt, there will be good times around the bend.
In conclusion, what this has made me realize more than ever, is that I have got to get to San Francisco for the Sea of Dreams evolution. String Cheese gets together with some of the folks who put on the Burning Man festival and throw what is hands down the craziest party in America. They did it last year, and it was incredible, and this year, now that it’s the last, will be even more. More what I can’t say, that would be to limit it. How about more energy pockets to say the least. More emotion too it seems. I am determined and looking for fellow intrepid travelers to make sure we are in San Francisco for New Years to see their last two scheduled shows.
Come on now, let's get 'er done. Once in a lifetime, call me. Seriously, call me, or email me, we’ve got to get there, one last time, then we can grow up, I promise. One last New Years with the Cheese. All I want to know is, who’s coming with me?

(parking lot, String Cheese at the Backyard in Austin, Senior Year)

11/25/2006 Fabulous Fox - Atlanta, GA

Set 1: Good Times Around The Bend, Blackberry Blossom, Lonesome Wind Blues1, Long Journey Home, Outside and Inside, Solution > Blue Bossa, Piece of Mine, Little Hands > The Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)

Set 2: Howard, Meet Me In The Morning (Dylan, first time played), Don't Say > Bumpin' Reel, Shine > Farther2, Best Feeling > people Everyday3 > Galactic > Shine Encore: Smile

1Bill Monroe, 1st time played
2First time played
3featuring Speech from Arrested Development

Smile

I call you up on the phone

I call you up get you on the line

I call you up on the phone

But I cant see you smile

I think of you when I’m gone

I think of you, honey, all the time

I think of you when I’m gone

But I cant see you smile

How the story ends, baby, I don’t know

And what’s to come, I cant say

And how the story ends, baby, I don’t know

Maybe Ill stop travelling some day.

I count the days while were apart

I count the days and I count the miles

I count the days that were apart

Until I can see you smile

I know that you feel just the same

You wish that I wasn’t gone so long

I write this down from so far away

Now I’m coming home

That I love you there’s no doubt

Your picture is hung above my bed

I look at it as were travelling around

But I wish I were holding you instead

Well its a long and windy road

Our love is strong and the future's bright

Its a long and a windy road

Until we reach the light

I know things are going to be all right

Because you’re in my dreams

when I sleep at night

You turn around and you look at me

And I can see you smile

I can see you smile

(Stubb's BBQ after ACL this year)