Article Contributed by Jamie Huenefeld
Published on 2026-11-02
Halloween weekend arrived a night early in Westchester County as The String Cheese Incident opened a two-night stand at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, on Friday, October 30, 2026. With no opener on the bill, the Colorado sextet held the stage all night and stretched out old school and new tunes alike. Several of the night's jams ran well past the ten-minute mark, and the second set unfurled as one continuous segue for more than an hour.
The show began with a living-room acoustic aesthetic, a format the band premiered in Houston during the summer leg of the Just Keep Spinning Tour. Most of the band was on acoustic instruments. Kyle Hollingsworth played a keytar mounted on a keyboard stand, Michael Kang held an acoustic mandolin, Billy Nershi was on acoustic guitar, and Jason Hann and Michael Travis worked hand drums and cymbals. Keith Moseley appeared to be playing an electric bass. They kicked off the set with "Colorado Bluebird Sky," the Nershi-penned opening track from 2014's Song in My Head. Midway through, Kang pivoted to fiddle and gave the opener a jolt of energy.
The band wished crew member Joel a Happy Birthday, along with Kristen Moseley. Moseley's "Get Tight," from 2017's Believe, came next and was dedicated to Kristen as well. The audience was then treated to an acoustic "Shine." Hollingsworth stood out during the jam, as did Hann on his percussion block. Toward the end, the band members slowly rose to their feet. Hollingsworth stood with the keytar and kept playing as he carefully made his way behind his keyboard setup. From there, the band snapped into psychedelic mode as Kang switched to his electric mandolin and the drummers assumed their positions. The living room had become a rage room, and the band deftly steered back into "Shine."
"Fête-Tama" followed with an EDM funkgrass feel. Hollingsworth wrote the instrumental to spotlight Hann, and the tune debuted in Houston before arriving as a single in September. Hollingsworth delved into trance on the synth, set against Nershi's acoustic guitar and Hann's talking drum. Hollingsworth kept driving through the meat of the nine-minute jam before Kang closed out the tune.
The first set's centerpiece came next. Hollingsworth's "Can't Wait Another Day," another Song in My Head cut, found Travis strong on drums while Hann had a shining moment on bongos. The jam detoured into a tasty Type II excursion rooted in blues rock. About fifteen minutes in, Hollingsworth started playing the refrain from "'Round the Wheel," the Nershi-written title track of the band's 1998 album, and the rest of the band joined in as Nershi sang the iconic lyrics. As the jam turned dark, Hann went tribal on the djembe, and Hollingsworth leaned on the Roland keyboard while Moseley held down the low end. Kang delivered some wicked peaks as the band brought the song home, with Moseley taking his customary solo. From the first notes of "Can't Wait Another Day" to the final chord of "'Round the Wheel," the set-closing sequence ran close to twenty-nine minutes.
"Beautiful," the closing track on Believe, kicked off set two, with Kang using an echo delay on parts of the vocals. Hollingsworth tapped into the Virus synth while Moseley switched to his Lakland 55-94 electric bass. Kang ripped through a dark, up-tempo jam. Hollingsworth ushered the band into the vintage "Jellyfish," a Nershi original from the band's 1997 debut, Born on the Wrong Planet. Nershi handled vocals on a trippy version that stretched past fourteen minutes. Hann made some eerie vocal noises, Hollingsworth snuck in a fitting "Halloween" tease, and Moseley and Nershi traded some weird dream banter. The sinister streak continued with another raging sequence driven by Moseley and Kang.
The band gradually migrated into "Joyful Sound," the Moseley-sung staple from 2001's Outside Inside, with Travis laser sharp on drums. The jam quickly turned psychedelic and flipped on a dime into the Grateful Dead's "Fire on the Mountain." Red stage lights complemented the funky mood as Kang spearheaded a face-melting jam.
To the crowd's delight, the band slithered into the bluegrass-inspired "Land's End," a Tim O'Brien song that also appeared on Born on the Wrong Planet. Kang ripped on his custom five-string electric octave mandolin built by Scott Walker Custom Guitars. In keeping with the holiday, the jam went dark, guided by Hollingsworth's ominous accordion. Nershi kept things grounded on acoustic as Moseley plunged the low end into menacing territory.
The sextet then shifted gears into the lighter "Glory Chords." The instrumental original is frequently paired with "Land's End," and this version delivered wild tension and release that had the crowd fired up before the band circled back to close the "Land's End" sandwich. The full "Land's End" segment ran nearly twenty-one minutes, and by the time the segment wrapped, the set had been flowing without a break for more than an hour since the first notes of "Beautiful."
After a brief breather, the band hopped into the newer blues-rock tune "Star." Hollingsworth contributed on Hammond B3 while Nershi switched to electric guitar. Travis pressed the drums into an EDM-inspired beat as the jam progressed, and the song stretched past twelve minutes.
The band shifted into funk mode with Hollingsworth's "Let's Go Outside," a third Song in My Head selection. The jam morphed once again, this time into a trance-funk fusion with well-played percussion from Hann. Nershi kept crushing on electric guitar to end the set.
The boys returned to encore with "Hi Ho No Show." Kang switched to fiddle for the first time since the acoustic opener. The bluegrass-inspired instrumental has been in the band's rotation since 2016 and got a first studio release as a single in 2021. The EDM-tinged tune made for the perfect conclusion.
Looking ahead, The String Cheese Incident will return to the road this week as the Just Keep Spinning Fall Tour swings through the Midwest, opening at GLC Live at 20 Monroe in Grand Rapids, MI (Nov. 4) before stops at The Fillmore in Detroit, MI (Nov. 5), The Factory in Chesterfield, MO (Nov. 6) and Taft Theatre in Cincinnati, OH (Nov. 7). Following a short break, the band will head west in December, launching a California run at Channel 24 in Sacramento, CA (Dec. 3) before two nights at the Fox Theater in Oakland, CA (Dec. 4 and 5). From there, the tour will roll through San Luis Obispo, CA (Dec. 6), Anaheim, CA (Dec. 9) and Los Angeles, CA (Dec. 10), then close out the year with two nights in Del Mar, CA (Dec. 11 and 12).
The Say Cheese Winter Tour will kick off in the new year in Jacksonville, FL (Jan. 14), continuing through Fort Lauderdale, FL (Jan. 15), St. Petersburg, FL (Jan. 16 and 17), Durham, NC (Jan. 20), Greenville, SC (Jan. 21) and Atlanta, GA (Jan. 22 and 23). In March, the band will head home to Colorado for WinterWonderGrass Steamboat (March 5 through 7) and two nights in Aspen, CO (March 6 and 7). Visit the band's tour page for more details about these dates.
Check out more photos from the show! The show is available to stream on nugs.net.
Band: The String Cheese Incident
Location: Port Chester, NY
Venue: The Capitol Theatre
Date: October 30, 2026
Set One: Colorado Bluebird Sky [1], Get Tight [1], Shine [1], Fête-Tama, Can't Wait Another Day > Jam > 'Round the Wheel
Set Two: Beautiful > Jellyfish [2] > Joyful Sound > Fire on the Mountain [3] > Land's End [4] > Jam > Glory Chords > Land's End, Star, Let's Go Outside
Encore: Hi Ho No Show
Notes:
[1] Acoustic "living room" mode, with a transition to rage mode during the "Shine" jam
[2] With "Halloween" tease
[3] Grateful Dead cover
[4] Tim O'Brien cover
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