Article Contributed by Photo Foo Foo
Published on 2026-11-07
Billy Nershi | The String Cheese Incident | Detroit, MI | November 5th, 2026 - photos by Photo Foo Foo
The String Cheese Incident has a long and close relationship with Michigan having played here over 50 times throughout their long career. Typically those shows take place on the west side of the mitten where Cheese holds their annual megalith festival ; Electric Forest. Detroit has only seen one cheese show in the last 26 years and this week marked only the third time in 30 years they have visited. To say the 313 natives were pumped and ready to get all seriously lactose tolerant is an understatement. A solid contingent made the mecca up from Cleveland for the show as well. 6 PM Doors and a 7:30 start time only added to the temptation for this school night crowd. The ‘Fillmore Detroit’ formerly known as the ‘State Theatre’ is one of the cities prettiest old movie houses sitting on Woodward avenue just across from the Detroit baseball and football stadiums and it's always fun to me to see the jamgrass community in their bright colors and dreads invade the old school marble and crystal palace for a show. Having doors an hour plus before the show with no opening act gave fans ample time to get there, get past TSA and find a bevy and a place to stand. The Fillmore holds close to 3,000 folks at capacity and this show was maybe three quarters full so lots of room to move around and boogie.
Cheese kicked things off with the concert workhorse ‘ You’ve Got The World’ then ‘Looking Glass’ band very much warming up still. ‘Can’t Stop Now’ follows and it's the most laid back sleepy version I have ever heard. They might be headed for a breakdown but it's a couple hours and a few stops away. Quallude rock but super thicc and fuuuuunky, tons of Mosely bassline runs. The latin tinged ‘Yo Sé’ melds seamlessly with the end of ‘Can't Stop’ and a longer jam ensues. The band is still fairly chill though as is the crowd. Not a ton of energy coming off either entity yet. Hann is now completely pre heated and is cooking hard on the congas. ‘Cedar Laurels’ continues the chill trend and just when you think maybe cheese is a slow groove tonight, all night they launch into ‘Close Your Eyes’ and BOOM, like someone flipped it on the supercharger the band comes alive hard. Kang taking long king kang-shreddable runs and Kyle filling in all of the spaces around him. Travis is seemingly all over the kit and Nershi is doin that lil nersh barefoot dance of his. The crowd has been waiting for this and goes ballistic. Main floor gets noticeably cozier as the dancers dance, the swayers sway and drinks get spilled en masse. And herein lies the mystery that vexes me each time I see the Cheese play. “How did this bluegrass band become this jam monolith, this godzilla of sound, the mothra of motha- fatha jam bands?” Cos they are. No one else does it like this. Moe tries. Panic tries, but Cheese just has that extra low gear or maybe it's a tiny overdrive that allows them to put out so much sound at once. All still distinctive and listenable. If the crowd at their first grass show in Colorado saw this explosion of light and sounds and reverie they would never be able to recognize them as the same musicians. ‘Revival’ ala Allman Bros follows Travis and Hann hitting different things but exactly in sync like a perc’ section with 1 mind and 4 arms. Alex ‘spinny guy’ Gerlach... Is going full twirl behind me in the mezzanine dead center. My own fan - blowing.... Excellent! .. Love is everywhere.. People, can you feel it?
The band takes a half hour to allow the crowd to rehydrate and wander about which is good cos everytime I see Kyle I think about having a tasty microbrew. Cheese started as the ‘Blue Cheese String Band’ doing covers .. and their history still shows in the sheer number of tunes they know and can whip out seemingly anytime. Tunes every night no one expects, like the world's best live karaoke machine without the crappy drunk guy singing ‘Mandy’ about his ex. This is why you come to Detroit on a rainy school night to see the world champs of jam.
They launch right back in with ‘Sweet Spot” then ‘One Step Closer’ and “Into the Blue” Travis has decided he wants to stroll and comes down front to slap the tambo while Jason pounds the kit. ‘ Round the Wheel’ into ‘Bumpin Reel’ with Kang spending time on the tiny neck guitar. Hann grabs the djembe and Travis is beating the skins like they spit at his mother. Just a thunderous onslaught of syncopation. ‘Dirk’ threads in and out for a bit before they launch fast into ‘Joyful Sound’, Nershi just working the frets as Kang and Mosely go neck to neck on the other side. Hollingsworth is now changing shades and hats multiple times per song every time I glance over, there is some new amusement going on as he concocts magic in his cube of keys. And suddenly it's done, they seemingly vanish from stage like wraiths with the crowd so amped and ready for more it has noted marketability on madison avenue. They retake the stage more than ready to meet the demand and with Kang doing a brief Motown intro and a nod to where they are they play Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” This pleases me greatly. For starters its great that they respect Detroit and the music we brought to the world and are doffing their collective caps in respect but also. They aren't doing ‘My Girl’ or ‘Superstition’ Or Dancing in the Street’ they are doing a semi deep Stevie cut, known to everyone in the house to be sure but NOT the obvious choice , cos Cheese gets it they may be performers but they are still fans of music and students of music and as long as they remain those three things, musicians fans and students. Every night is gonna be like this when you see them, it will always be just that much better than anyone else in jamgrass. More thoughtful, more enjoyed, more splendid, more cheesy! And I for one cannot wait for the next time and I hope its not another 25 years before they visit
