The String Cheese Incident

String Cheese Incident's Fall 2005 tour is documented here on three discs by Larry Fox. It seems to be higher energy than the shows from the summer of 2005, which included tons of guest performances. There are guests here, too, but the integration of them feels easier and breezier. Disc one is just the band tearing it up on "MLT," "Footprints," and a killer cover of Led Zep's "Ramble On." Disc two features the Hot Buttered Rum string band on a couple of tunes, such as a rather ragged but fun reading of the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil," (there's also a version of "Casey Jones, by STI sans guests), and a stomping jam version of the bluegrass classic "Blackberry Blossom." Elsewhere on this disc STI dig into big American music by covering "Iko Iko" (under the proper moniker of "Jockamo") and a fine militant soul read of Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927," with Davell Crawford singing lead and indicting George W. Bush. The extended take on "Pack It Up (And Go)," works very well, as does "I Know You Rider," stretched to nearly 11 minutes. The final disc includes a 22-minute version of "Big Shoes," and long versions of "This Must Be the Place," and an amazing, simply amazing "Desert Dawn." This is among the finest of the "Travelogue" volumes in the On the Road series. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide