On day two of the inaugural Waterloo Music Festival, music lovers gathered at Carson Creek Ranch outside Austin to enjoy the Texas sunshine and a packed lineup of great live offerings.

Local favorite Big Wy’s Brass Band opened the Relix Stage on Saturday, followed by Amoramora and then Tea Leaf Green on the main Waterloo Stage. As always, Marco Benevento pleased music lovers with his electro-pop sensibility, before switching gears a few hours later and supplying keyboards for Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.

It was a big night for JRAD, as they made their Texas debut. The band played seven songs over their two-hour set, starting off with Jerry Garcia Band’s Cats Under the Stars tune “Reuben and Cerise” and closing out with a rocking, politically-minded “Throwing Stones.”

As three-day headliners, String Cheese Incident were very much the main event on Saturday, and SCI fans knew it was going to be a special night from the first song of their single set. They began with their first-ever “Hi Ho No Show” opener, and the band only gained momentum from there with a nice “Best Feeling”> “Song In My Head”> “Windy Mountain” segment that featured a reggae-tinged vocal jam and improvisational interplay between Michael Kang and Billy Nershi.

The band busted out some new material with “Get To You,” featuring vocalist Lyle Divinski of The Motet. The studio version of the upbeat tune (also featuring Divinski) debuted this past April, straight from the band’s Sound Lab in Boulder, Colo.

Moving on, Michael Kang took the lead on the “Big Reveal,” which eventually warped into a danceable funk jam. The entire crowd cheered at the appearance of “Joyful Sound,” and later, in perhaps the set’s highlight, the band sandwiched one of Kyle Hollingsworth’s favorite covers (Cake’s “Short Skirt Long Jacket”) with their classic “Rosie,” eliciting a certified dance party in the audience.

“Kang and I are going to do a delicate duo,” Hollingsworth said when the smoke cleared, launching into Peter Gabriel and Youssou N’Dour’s “Shaking The Tree.” However, the mellow vibes didn’t last long, as the band ended their second of three shows with their signature bluegrass banger “Colorado Bluebird Sky.”

The Waterloo Music Festival continues tonight in Austin, TX.

Check out SCI’s full Saturday setlist below:

The String Cheese Incident 

Waterloo Music Festival, Austin, TX

Hi Ho No Show, Best Feeling> Song In My Head> Windy Mountain, Get To You+, The Big Reveal, Joyful Sound> Rumble, Rosie> Short Skirt Long Jacket^> Rosie, Shaking The Tree

Enc: Colorado Bluebird Sky

Notes:

+ with Lyle Divinsky of The Motet