Where the Jam Meets the Sky: A Cosmic Evening with Cheese in Brown County
May 23, 2025 – Brown County Music Center
The drive into Nashville, Indiana, still cuts like a lost verse from a cosmic country song—lush green hills folding into twilight, the kind of scene that makes you believe in ley lines and moonlit fiddle duels. On Friday night, The String Cheese Incident pulled their traveling caravan of jam-funk into the Brown County Music Center, and from the first note to the last echo, it was a music escape for the next few hours.
The venue was packed with tie-dyed pilgrims, weathered road veterans, and seasoned Cheeseheads. The band opened with “Eventually,” a slow burn stretching like a lazy sunrise over Monroe Lake. Kyle Hollingsworth’s keys shimmered like bottle rockets popping over pine trees while Bill Nershi’s guitar slinked in with that folksy warmth only he could summon. “Little Hands” followed, and it hit with the nostalgic thud of a letter from the past, reminding everyone why they first followed this band into the deep end.
The first set twisted through “Bhangra Saanj” with a joyous groove that summoned hips into motion. But the run from “Eye Know Why” into “Colorado Bluebird Sky” really lit the fuse—guitars wailing into orbit, percussion cascading like a waterfall made of drumsticks and sweat. When they finally took a breath, the crowd roared.
Set two was a rocket ship wrapped in a fiddle string. SCI cracked into “Can’t Wait Another Day” with the kind of radiant energy that made the walls melt a little, then slalomed into “Get Tight” before hurling the entire room headfirst into the Allman Brothers’ “Jessica.” For the encore, the boys returned with “Hi Ho No Show,” a zany, synth-bubbled stomp that felt like a punchline delivered from outer space. It was pure SCI weirdness wrapped in a grin.
When the lights finally came up, the crowd stumbled into the May night with that dazed, elated look only true believers wear. For one magical night in Brown County, The String Cheese Incident reminded us that the jam is still holy, the groove eternal, and the Cheese… oh, the Cheese is still very much alive.
Setlist:
Set One: Eventually, Little Hands, Bhangra Saanj, Tore Up Over You, Manga, Eye Know Why, Colorado Bluebird Sky
Set Two: Can’t Wait Another Day, Get Tight, Jessica, Indian Creek, The Way That it Goes, Johnny Cash, Impressions, Drums, Rollover
Encore: Hi Ho No Show
String Cheese Incident Photo Gallery
