Flip  (10/17/2006 2:17:20 PM)

Unbelievable, magical and a true incident. In all the years I`ve been seeing live music; it`s hard to compare anything to what I experienced on that Tuesday night in Ithaca.

SET ONE

Come As You Are - I was hoping for that opener and I got it. From first note to last....pure spine tingling energy. The room was rocking, Kang was on and so were the rest of the boys. What an awesome start.

BOTWP - Nice creeping intro. At this point the place was grooving. I was down in front to the left of the stage dancing in an open space. When I looked up up the balcony and the rest of the theater, EVRYONE was dancing. Again, the energy was on ten!

Sometimes a River - Nice new tune. Fun to dance to and a nice breather for what was to come.

Yo Se - What can I say? Wow! Liquid, twirling, electric colors of notes just building and building, crescendo after crescendo. I love this tune and they couldn`t have played it any better. At this point, what was played so far was worth the price of admission.

Windy Mountain - Well played, and again, another breather.

Got What He Wanted - Well, I got what I wanted. Funky, happy and a groove that could not be stopped. Soooooo much fun! I was thinking this had to be it for the set and I was happy with what I heard, but no.......

Jessica!!! All parts were jamming! Again, I looked up at the rest of the room and there wasn`t one face that wasn`t smiling, laughing and blown away by this tune. Perfect end to an incredible set.

SET TWO

Rivertrance - Great! Kangs fiddle got in are bones and made the room pack with this electricity that could have powered the entire great lakes region. At this time, we all laughing and making eye contact during the jam that gives me the feeling I can’t describe; the reason why I see these guys.

John Hardy – It’s amazing how this night the boys knew when to play what tune. Seamlessly the fall into something that’s needed to regroup, catch our bearings and move along with a nice bluegrass tune.

Big Shoes – Wow, way out of left field. Nobody I was with saw this coming. Easy, spacey, grooving with ease and that laziness of electric and eclectic power. We’re talking Paul Bunion shoes………incredible.

Shaken the Tree – I can’t help but smile when I recall this. Again, the place was so freaking happy, my soul was beaming with great vibes from everyone that was around me and the boys took it from one level to the next. Great tune and well played.

Rhythm of the Road – “Oh no you didn’t!” Kaaabooom! There it was. One of the quintessential cheese tunes, and jams, right at my feet; laid out perfectly in the set with no end of energy in sight. But wait! They’re playing a bluegrass tune! What is it? I don’t know, but I like it! Then the Hammond B3 ripped and we were off from one level to the next with the notes building inside of all of us, on our feet, sweating, dancing and twirling with joy! The thought of the memory makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

Just one story – Another new tune I really don’t know, but it popped with little deep notes from Kang that somehow made us all understand what was happening for a brief moment. The jam was nice and is sure to be refined into a great cheese tune.

Drums – What a great addition to this band. Jason, you’re the man that fit into something that was great already. This guy makes a great band even better and I didn’t think that was possible.

Round the Wheel – I was thinking, “This has to be it”. Vocals, instruments and crowd seemed to go together as if something was almost choreographed. The jam just started, we were hopping, then ………….twink, twink, twink twink…..no power! I saw some guy come from back stage running his finger across his neck at Billy. I could heam say, “You guys have to stop”. We were all confused as some of us walk up to the stsge to figure out what was going on. The crowd was chanting, “One more song” over and over. My brother suggested to Billy to go outside and he replied, “That’s were I’m going!”

There was were, the crowd like a peaceful mob, police and firemen scratching their heads wondering what the hell to do. So, they blocked off two ends of the State Street and let it happen. Billy was in the middle of the crowd playing, but I could barely hear him. I Looked at Randy and said, “Could you IMAGINE if everyone just sat down?!” Randy said loudly, “Everyone down”. And it happened; everyone got down in the middle of State Street and we could see and hear Billy play Texas. That’s right Billy, stick it the man! It was perfect! I’ve NEVER seen anything like this before. How lucky we were to all be there to witness this.

After that, we ran into Kang at a local bar. Had a few and talked, laughed and decided to see some more music. I think it was some local girl who suggested a place down the road, so there we went. When we got the there the band was this right-on jazzy instrumental group. So we got a drink and were dancing. Billy, Travis and Jason came a little later. What a great bunch of guys with so little attitude and totally approachable. After this night I knew they were having just as much fun as we were and I had a newfound respect all of them

Again, in all my years of seeing live music, I’ve never experienced such wonderful energy with an almost overwhelming community. Great show, great people and a truly great incident. Jerry would have loved these guys.

Peace,

Rob

   CNY  (10/20/2005 5:52:29 PM)

The second Ithaca show was amazing, especially the second set. The State is a great place to see the band - intimate, and the crowd had such a cool vibe. We knew we were in for something special when they started the second set with an incredible Rivertrance - sweet but with a growly undertone. Cheese was so on that night. The fire alarm at the end did nothing to lessen what a special night it was.

   Pat Gill  (10/17/2005 1:06:14 PM)

Second Night Ithaca is why I go see SCI. I saw five fun shows...but this night in Ithaca was AMAZING. CAYA was real nice, I like when the band gets loose with a big jam to lead off...right into BOTWP. NO JAM AT ALL (kinda like the Black Clouds from the night before) oh well, still fun to hear Kang on vocals. Hit the bathroom during Sometimes a River, not out of spite, but because i really had to piss. Yo Se was smoking...Kang and Kyle tear up the Latin stuff. LOVED Windy Mtn. BNRBNRBNRBNR. GWHW> Jessica was fun. I`ve heard Jessica too many times though. RIVERTRANCE...this thing was an absolute monster. I love when Cheese gets the dance party cranked up. This thing was no joke. > John Hardy. Perfect song selection. They could`ve sucked the energy out of the room with a jam into Gimmee the love or something, but John Hardy was perfect. BIG SHOES was CRAZY. The STS9 comparisons aren`t that far off. Disco breakdown Cheese, this thing was sicker than the HH `03 Shoes and the Ski Tour version. GET THE OTR!!! Shakin` the Tree!! Beauty. ROTR was rockin` pretty good then into a Temperance Reel type jam back into a blistering Kang arena rock solo. Just One Story (great bustout) into RTW...RTW was gettin` pretty dirty when the smoke alarms triggered...and you all know the rest.

This was an amazing evening...I`ve found myself getting a little bored with cheese lately, and then they play this show and suck me right back into the vortex that is SCI.

Jon-O, you will be missed.