9/15/18 String Cheese Incident @ Planet Bluegrass Ranch - Lyons, CO

Last Saturday I celebrated my 12th year without drinking by ironically going to a concert put on by Mountain Sun.  This two day event at the Planet Bluegrass Ranch in Lyons, CO was known as the Colorado Kynd Festival.  It doesn't get much more Colorado than standing in a mountain stream listening to Yonder Mountain String Band and The String Cheese Incident.  The crowd was very family oriented.  I'm not sure I've ever seen more children at a show.  I was enjoying the Speedy West on the PA system before SCI.  It was good to see Whitney from work and Kacie from Iowa State.  I spent the show with Angelo and his family.  They were very generous and I liked their creek side location on the Kyle side.

The first set was highlighted by Missin' Me > Rivertrance.  I liked the groove that Keith and the drummers built from Illegal > I Know You Rider.  Jen Hartswick did a great job per usual during the songs that she sat in for.  Panama Red and This Must Be the Place were appropriate with me having just moved to nearby Longmont, CO.  I've never seen SCI so close to home.  During Rollover I made my way back to my vehicle.  As the Shake Your Body encore ended I was hitting the road.  That cover was during the awkward years when they were known as The Jacksons just prior to Michael going solo.  Years ago I had a dream about me living in Colorado seeing SCI in a mountain venue.  At some point during this show I thought about how that dream had been realized. 

8/31-9/2 Phish @ Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City, CO

Following the debacle at Watkins Glen I decided it was time for a change.  I quit my part time job I'd been working and secured a place to live in Longmont, Co with a friend.  On Wednesday August 29th I made the arduous journey across Iowa and Nebraska into Colorado.  I spent the next day relaxing and recovering from the drive.  On Friday I met up with Justin Murphy and his crew from Ohio on the ridge overlooking the soccer fields in the camping area.  It was a nice spot to people watch.  It was good to meet up with the Auburn crew of Pat, Kasha, Ryan, and Heather.  I spent all three shows in the stands with them along with Travis and Nate who made the trip out from Iowa City.

It was good to see familiar vendors in the parking lot.  The Gyro man had the best food on tour this summer.  There were five or six rows of shakedown street in the Dick's Sporting Goods Parking lot.  It was quite the scene for the end of tour finale.  Friday night had a message in the song choices and lyrics that dealt with the Curveball cancellation.  You could tell the band had gone through a huge ordeal.  I dropped off my cans for the food drive and got the commemorative pins.  Upon going into the venue after the soundcheck I bought the event shirt.  I've bought all 8 Dick's Phish event shirts.

I liked the Friday offering.  In the first set there was a well executed Ghost > Crosseyed segue.  Set II was highlight by a strong Mercury, Light pairing.  On Saturday it became somewhat warm in the campgrounds during the day.  They soundchecked Shade which was appropriate.  I liked the first set on Saturday better than the second.  DWD might have been the highlight.  To end the second set there was a strong Slave to the Traffic Light.

Sunday didn't turn out to be the huge end of tour blowout that I expected.  Things fizzled after an interesting Tweezer.  Song selections toward the end of the set and encore left me disappointed.  It was a weird summer.  Alpharetta was great.  Then the devastating situation at Curveball.  Dick's would have been better had they actually played two weeks prior.  I met some good people and had a very good experience.  The next morning I drove back to Longmont to start my next adventure.