The Peach Music Festival kicked off its second day on Friday with a full day (and night) of music at Scranton, PA’s Montage Mountain, including a Grateful Dead–filled set from The Infamous Stringdusters, a guest-filled performance from The String Cheese Incident, nostalgia at The Allman Betts Band’s late-night set and more.

The Infamous Stringdusters lit up the Peach Stage with a performance that featured originals along with Grateful Dead covers and teases. The bluegrass quartet took on the Dead’s “Reuben and Cherise,” “Truckin’” and “Wharf Rat,” eventually launching into a full cover of “He’s Gone,” featuring some haunting vocal harmonies from the Dusters. The band also covered The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” putting a fresh twist on the song. Towards the end of the set, Andy Hall unleashed a fiery solo with his dobro, and the Dusters pulled themselves into a huddle formation as the tension built and Hall made his instrument sing for the crowd.

The String Cheese Incident’s second of three sets at Montage Mountain this weekend kicked off with crowd pleasers “Can’t Wait Another Day” and “Sweet Melinda,” before the band launched into a voyage of jams that was accompanied by a frenzy of light and visuals that were projected over the Peach Stage pavilion’s roof. SCI welcomed the Stringdusters’ Andy Hall and his dobro to the stage for two electrifying songs, “My One and Only” and “Lonesome Fiddle Blues”—after the first, Cheese’s Bill Nershi exclaimed, “He just couldn’t walk off the stage!” After a quick synth-heavy jam on “Valley of the Jig,” Nershi then welcomed former Gregg Allman Band lead guitarist and musical director Scott Sharrard for “Outside and Inside” and thanked him for showing Cheese the Peach Festival ropes, before launching into the classic Allman Brothers tune “Southbound” to close out the first set.

After a quick break, SCI returned to the stage as the crowd sang along to the tunes being played over the PA, prompting Nershi to open up the second set by continuing The Champs’ “Tequila” with the sea of Cheeseheads. After kicking off his sandals and adjusting his shades, Nershi counted off and launched the group into their finale set of Peach 2019 with “Betray the Dark.” During the ensuing rendition of staple “Song In My Head,” Nershi got progressively more animated, shaking his head with his hands and pulling down his sunglasses to make faces and eyes at the rail riders. Nershi and multi-instrumentalist Michael Kang traded off leading the group with their instruments, the latter trading between the mandolin, electric guitar and violin throughout the night. Bassist Keith Moseley took on lead vocals for “Gone Crooked,” a recent song that Moseley penned with Rayland Baxter, filled with alternative country and Americana vibes. Before the set closer of “Desert Dawn,” Nershi declared, “We’re going to fuck it up with this one!” before dropping into the tune. After an explosive sequence of jams and solos, String Cheese bid goodbye to the Peach crowd for this year.

The Allman Betts Band closed out Friday’s offerings with a late-night set at the Mushroom Stage. After a quick piano interlude, the band kicked off with two original songs before launching into the Allman Brothers tunes “Blue Sky” and “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More.” The band also performed a swinging cover of John Lee Hooker’s “Dimples,” before taking a quick break to introduce everyone on stage. In celebration of the 35th anniversary of it’s release, the band covered Prince’s “Purple Rain,” leading the crowd in a sing-a-long rendition of the last refrain. The “new ABB” continued to cover classic Allman Brothers tunes throughout the rest of their set, including the Dickey Betts instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” lead by his son, Duane.

Check out SCI’s setlist below, along with full-set video of the multiple performances from yesterday via nugs.net’s free webcast, including String Cheese, the Stringdusters, moe. and Blues Traveler. The Peach Music Festival continues today with music from Trey Anastasio Band, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Greensky Bluegrass, Lettuce, Stephen Marley, The Motet, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band and more. For those who can’t make it out to Montage Mountain, a free livestream is available.

The String Cheese Incident
Peach Music Festival – Scranton, PA

Set I: Can’t Wait Another Day, Sweet Melinda > So Far From Home, Pygmy Pony, My One and Only*, Lonesome Fiddle Blues*, Valley of the Jig, Outside And Inside** > Southbound**

Set II: Betray the Dark, Song In My Head > Beautiful, Gone Crooked, Let’s Go Outside > Land’s End > Big Peach Jam > Glory Chords > Desert Dawn

Notes: * w/ Andy Hall
** w/ Scott Sharrard

Source: facebook.com/stringcheeseincident