The first night of String Cheese Incident's Winter Carnival off the tour right. The band came to the stage ready to bring it in the first set to get things going in Seattle. This was the most dates this band has played consecutively in a long time. Fall tour ended November 15th, they played 3 nights for New Years, and then they were able to play a 35 minute set at The Colorado Up event that Governor Hickenlooper threw at the Ogden. They were practiced and ready this Winter Carnival to play. The energy inside of the ornate Paramount was great! Seattle was ready to dance and have a good time. I think the Seahawks energy carried over right into The String Cheese shows.
The first set was the perfect way to start! The band opened with Song in My Head followed by an always solid Can’t Stop Now. Can’t Stop Now always gets the crowd
moving. The next song Mouna Bowa brought the bass throughout
the room and the jam the ensured to follow was a highlight of first set. The funky groove of the jam brought the dance
party and segued right into Come As You
Are. The crowd gave a large applause
after this great 2 song segment. The Paramount Theater had a large floor that the fans were able to really get into the show and dance away. The band brought the crowd
back to earth with a great version of the Until
the Music’s Over, a song that had been brought off the shelf during the three night
New Years run. This particular version
in Seattle had a floaty jam that only String Cheese can do. It was great to hear the song and maybe it would be added to the rotation.
This jam allowed the band to play around until finally finding itself
back into the great beginning of one of my favorites’ off the new album, Betray the Dark. The rest of the set was pretty good Outside and Inside>Colliding with another great dance jam
to finish. It was a strong first set for a great
Winter Carnival opener.
Second set started off with electronic groove fiddle song Bumpin’ Reel and the band once again had the audience moving. They played
Best Feeling and it was great with Legalize
It in the middle right back into Best
Feeling. Legalize it has become a cover used by bands as a nod to the legal states in the United States. Washington in 2014 had legalized marijuana so it was fitting. The segued Best
Feeling>Wake Up>Pack It Up for the next segment. I have been waiting for that Wake Up for a while. Last time it was played was 6/30/2012 at Electric Forest. Billy had played it to open for Hot Buttered Rum
at the Gothic Theater in Denver. I love that song and have been listening to
it a lot lately. So happy that that was one
of the bust outs for the first night of this tour! The Pack
It Up was heavy hitting as always and Kyle got real funky on the keys. I think there was a very brief Slipknot tease from Kyle
thrown into the mix during Pack It Up.
Let’s Go Outside
was played well and I was glad it wasn’t to finish the encore because what was
about to come was amazing and I was glad to be a part of it. Just One Story>Black Clouds
(with a great jam back to)>Just One
Story. Just One Story has become a
great end of a set and Michael Kang is able to send it every time. The
crowd went crazy at the end of the set and the band knew that they had just
crushed it for Seattle. The crowd surged
until the band came out for encore. Billy
came out and thanked the crowd for allowing him and the band to feel so
special. It was great to hear as the
front row crew held signs that said “Please Play an Encore, We Always Want More,
We Always Want More!” “Cheese you take our breath away, Please an
Encore you should Play.” That was the emotion
felt throughout the venue to finish 2nd set. Hugs all around, Love to fill the air.
The encore was perfect for a show like that. They came out and after Billy thanked the
crowd they started into Under African Skies,
one of their favorite Paul Simon covers.
They have transformed that song and made it their own. Most people thought after a long Under African Skies that the show would
be over but no String Cheese felt special so they finished Black Clouds and brought the whole theater into a huge dance party
to finish the night. That is how to
start a tour. High fives and Hugs all
around. Woo Hoo! Night 1 was a huge success!
Couple quotes from the night:
“Wow, I just love all the girls at String Cheese.” – Luda Goldnykh
“One of the highlights was Wake Up; they put on a very
powerful performance of the song. I
thought setlist-wise, one of the highlights was when they incorporated Just One
Story and Black Clouds back into Story, then finishing Black Clouds in the
encore. The people who don’t know necessarily know still had to be noticing
there was something different and cool going on there!” – Daniel Craveiro
1/16/2015 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
SETLIST
Set One
Song in My Head > Can't Stop Now, Mouna Bowa > Come As
You Are, Until the Music's Over, Betray the Dark, Outside and Inside,
Colliding
Set Two
Bumpin' Reel, Best Feeling >Legalize It > Best Feeling
> Wake Up, Pack It Up, Let's Go Outside, Just One Story > Black
Clouds > Just One Story
Encore
Under African Skies > Black Clouds 
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