What do you think of the String Cheese Incident?

[absyntheNsugar]

Are they a Phish ripoff band or accomplished artists in their own right?

I'm getting into them right now - like their stuff but I have to say out of all the "Jam" bands I like Medeski Martin and Wood the best.

What are your thoughts?

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. I find them enjoyable and easy to listen to,

but not as involved or as interesting as Phish or the Dead.

Tehy aren't bad by any means, but they don't excite me, either.

[absyntheNsugar]

2. Yes Phish knows how to work cacophany--->melody

Something they picked up from listening to all those King Crimson records late at night.

And as for the Dead? Well I love any dead before 1979. 80's Dead to me is a shell of what they once were...

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. Yeah, once the heroin became more important than the music,

the Dead didn't do so well.

And along with String Cheese Incident, I also find moe and Galactic to be equally generic, though at the high end of generic.

Phish - definitely more influenced by heavy hitting bands, like Crimson, and it comes through in the their music.

SCI and others seem that they were influenced by Phish, and didn't bother to check out where Phish came from. And like any copy, once you get a few generations away from the original, the interesting details slowly get lost into a larger, murky smush of data.

[absyntheNsugar]

6. Couldn't agree with you more

Yes, Phish is the product of suburban America raised on Zeppelin, Crimson, Yes, Talking Heads and Zappa (much like the Dead was the product of urban America raised on blues, bluegrass and workers anthems.) SCI seems more like the product of ski bums who liked Phish and wanted to 'capture that sound.'

And as for Crimson, have you ever seen them in concert?

Only time I was ever driven to tears by a jam. And I was completely sober! Robert Fripp and Adrien Belew are insane geniuses!

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. I haven't seen them, but I'd love to

I've never seen Fripp live, but have long admired his playing and musicality.

And Belew is also a genius.

I can only imagine what a live jam with those two must be like.

[jonnyblitz]

3. I saw them with Moe and some band with the word 'salmon" in it

live in the late 90's and thought they weren't bad. I saw them with some Deadhead friends of mine.

[ikojo]

4. I've never seen them in concert but

I do have a couple of their on the road CDs. They were good. I am not really into going to concerts much anymore. About the only band I will make an exception for is the Dead in any incarnation.

[tridim]

8. MMW are incredible

especially in small venues. I saw them in 93 with an audience of about 12 people and it was the best show I've ever seen by a long shot. I've seen them about 40 times since. String Cheese are okay, but they're not even in the same class as MMW. Same with Phish..

[absyntheNsugar]

11. I've never seen them live

but have every album - they seem to always sell out when I try to get tickets!

But yes, they are freakin amazing...I'm surprised that what they do with time signatures isn't illegal! Ever notice how pretty much every instrument they play tends to be a percussion instrument at some point?

I love Phish, and see them as one of the few real Rock and Roll bands today - but MMW's musicianship and creativity blows me away every time!

[tridim]

16. They're the only band I've seen

that constantly causes my jaw to drop to the floor. The first time I saw them I remember turning to my friend and asking, "How the hell do three people make so much sound?" He didn't have an answer.

Chris Thile of Nickel Creek is jaw droppingly amazing too.

[Sophree]

17. Nickel Creek

I saw them on Austin City Limits- wow, they are amazing.

I've seen String Cheese quite a few times- sometimes they amaze me, sometimes they really bore me. I think it really depends on the setting for me.

I definitely think they have their own unique sound, though. Phish hardly ever gets as bluegrassy as SCI. And SCI rarely gets as rockin as Phish, but I think I like them best when they do.

[WilliamPitt]

9. Good stuff

One could argue that all the jam bands going today are ripping off the Dead, including Phish, so I think Cheese is safe from that. I like them.

If you like techno, there's a techno album out there with Cheese riffs suffused through the beat. Nicely done.

[Nostradammit]

10. They got their own thing going -

Which I don't particularly care for, but I sure admire how they got to where they are. I know some of them personally, and they're damn nice people. They've built a little mini-empire completely from scratch with no major label help.

They are no Phish.

But then, Phish were no Dead.

Give me MMW anyday.

[DenverDem]

12. Widespread Panic are the best jam band, IMNSHO.

Allmanesque with deeper lyrical content than Phish or SCI and fantastic technical proficiency in their jams while retaining a raw rock and roll edge.

They are taking 2004 off from touring to recharge after loosing their founding lead guitarist to pancreatic cancer and coming back strong last year with a great new guitarist. Check out their live albums and DVD's, especially the documentary style "The Earth Will Swallow You" DVD, a great rock movie about a great rock band.

<http://widespreadpanic.com/>

[absyntheNsugar]

14. WSP is a good band

Something you'll never know until you hear them live (their studio albums SUCK IMHO and they almost turned me off to them.)

Phish isn't about the lyrics btw...some of their songs are made to be silly, and in some cases were just rhymes they made up to remember material before tests while at UV. Example: Golgi Apparatus. It's a biological process - i think it was Trey who was a biology major.

[DenverDem]

15. I'm not as critical as you about their studio work,

especially the last couple of albums, but the live recordings are the true taste of "Panic".

[Sophree]

18. I agree

Live is best, but I love WSP studio albums as well. "Don't Tell The Band" is the most recent in my collection- it's wonderful. :-)

[absyntheNsugar]

13. For those of us who have no idea what we're talking about....

http://www.scifidelity.com/radio_layout/radio_full.htm

Listen in and register your opinion!