Photo:  Larry Hulst

On Wednesday, May 21, String Cheese Incident arrived at the Steelhouse in Omaha, Neb., for the latest stop on their current spring tour. During the midweek arrival, the Colorado jamgrass unit performed a debut of Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow, and Bill/Jilian Nershi co-wrote “Crazy Angel” during the concert’s first half. 

Before the first time run-through for this group of musicians, String Cheese Incident found the onset of the night with the arrival of Vasser Clements’ “Lonesome Fiddle Blues.” The group pulled from their original catalog, referencing their Outside Inside record via “​​Black and White,” before sliding into a Jean-Luc Ponty output, “Mouna Bowa.” 

The aforementioned movements led to “Crazy Angel.” While its arrival represented a debut for the String Cheese Incident, it also continued surfacing in Nershi-associated bands, such as Honkytonk Homeslice, the bluegrass troupe with his wife Jilian and Scott Law. In 2005, String Cheese Incident shifted the track’s lyrics, generating an iteration that appeared on their studio output, One Step Closer. 

During last night’s gig, as reported by Jambase, Nershi preluded the song’s entry by addressing its significance to the audience: 

“We’re gonna do one that we haven’t played before until now. This is the first time for this tune. This is a tune that I wrote with my wife, Jilian, and John Perry Barlow, who wrote for Bobby [Weir] for all those years. He came up to the house and hung out for a few days. We wrote three tunes, and this is one of those tunes that we wrote with him. This one’s called ‘Crazy Angel.’”

Following the concert’s lauded debut, the band unleashed a range of tunes, beginning with “Sweet Spot” before a nonstop sequence of “Way Back Home” into rarity, The Beatles’ “Get Back” and into “One Step Closer.” SCI paused ahead of “ Look At Where We Are,” before a final pairing, this time, classics “Water” into “Texas.” 

After last night’s action in the Midwest, the band will continue its live trajectory with a performance at The Factory in Chesterfield, Mo. Tickets remain on sale. 

Scroll down to view last night’s setlist via www.friendsofcheese.com. Watch a preview of last night’s first set via nugs.net.

String Cheese Incident 

Steelhouse – Omaha, Neb. 

May 21, 2025

Set I: Lonesome Fiddle Blues, Black and White, Mouna Bowa, Crazy Angel+ > Valley Of The Jig, Close Your Eyes

Set II: Sweet Spot, Way Back Home > Get Back > One Step Closer, Look At Where We Are, Water > Texas

Enc.: I Wish, Bumpin’ Reel

Notes:

+ Debut