The String Cheese Incident’s Horning’s Hideout event opened on Thursday night at the North Plains, OR venue. While the group did not perform, its various members did appear with some of their other projects. The Kyle Hollingsworth Band kicked off the music from the main stage with a funk flavored set that included covers of songs by the Flaming Lips (“Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots”) and Talking Heads (“This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)”. CB3 with Michael Kang came next for a set of African-inspired rock abetted by a horn section. The Emmitt-Nershi Band followed with its bluegrass focus (and a guest appearance by Keith Moseley), leading Bill Nershi to comment how the day was symbolic of the band members’ “incredibly diverse” styles. Then EOTO, with Michael Travis and Jason Hann closed out the music from the stage with a 90 minute set, which saw Nershi step out to rev up the crowd (he also claimed that the music was inspired by Bill Monroe beats that had been programed by the duo).

The evening then saw late night music from two smaller spaces. Johnson from CB3 and the Brazilian Girls serving as DJ at the Emerald Parlor. Meanwhile over at the Caldera Stage, bassist Garrett Sayers, guitarist Dan Schwindt and drummer Dave Watts, who had performed with Hollingsworth, delivered their own set, which saw Eric Krasno, Jamie Janover and Hollingsworth join in with a cover of “Will It Go Round In Circles” being one of the highlights.

Music continues today on four stages, with two sets expected from String Cheese.